The City lies
foursquare, its length the same as its width.
And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal
(Revelation 21:16).
John is describing the New Jerusalem that will come down
from heaven after Satan is defeated. One
stadion is about 607 feet. So 12,000
Stadia comes out to about 1,380 miles long and wide. That is one big city. That New Jerusalem will be bigger than the
state of Alaska. What gets me though is
that John is saying it is 1,380 miles HIGH
as well. Wait, what? Exactly.
To get perspective, Mount Everest is just under 6 miles high. Something that is 1,380 miles high is in
outer space. So what does this tell
us? That the new earth is going to be
much, much bigger.
Then I saw a new
heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed
away, and the sea was no more. (Revelation 21:1)
How big will the new earth be? The Bible never tells us directly, but it
does give us some hints. A city that is
1,380 miles high is one hint. Another lies
at the very end of Ezekiel. While in
exile, God gives Ezekiel a vision of the new temple and the new city that
should be constructed when they return.
These shall be the
exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure,
three gates, the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the
gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. On the east side, which is to be 4,500
cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of
Dan. On the south side, which is to be
4,500 cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar,
and the gate of Zebulun. On the west
side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Gad, the gate of
Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. The
circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on
shall be, The Lord is There. (Ezekiel 48:30-35)
So how does this help us determine the size of the new
earth? Bear with me, check out what John
has to say about the New Jerusalem:
It had a great high
wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the
names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed – on the east
three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the
west three gates. And the wall of the
city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb.
The New Jerusalem has the same design as the city in
Ezekiel’s vision, only on a much grander scale, with some very important
changes. One is that the names of the
twelve apostles will be on the foundations of the city. Another is that the Lord is in the city and
gives light to the city. In Ezekiel’s
vision, the Temple is in the Holy district, which is a part from the city. But in the New Jerusalem, God´s glory will
dwell in the city and there will be no temple.
It will also be made out of pure gold, which is a lot of gold for a city
that is bigger than Alaska.
Ezekiel’s new city is 4,500 cubits long and wide. A cubit is 1.5 feet. So the city in his vision was about 6,750
feet or around 1.3 miles long and wide.
The New Jerusalem then is roughly 1,000 times bigger than the city in
Ezekiel’s vision. That got me thinking
that maybe, just maybe, the new earth will also be 1,000 times as big. Maybe this Earth is like a miniature model of
what is to come that is 1/1000th the size. A 1,380 mile high city in our miniature model
Earth would be 6,750 feet, a breathable elevation.
It is important the New Jerusalem is 1,380 miles high,
because it will provide light for the entire Earth. There will be no sun and no night. The light will emanate out from the New
Jerusalem.
You are the light of
the world. A city set on a hill cannot
be hidden. (Matthew 5:14)
As somebody that loves to walk and hike, I wonder what the
trek will be like up to the New Jerusalem.
Climbing up 4,000 feet is a hard day of hiking but going UP 1,380 miles
will be something else. But we will have
our heavenly bodies. God will provide in
every way. There will be no danger. Time will be nonexistent. There will just joy and peace as we
walk. I imagine the view is incredible,
maybe 1000 times more incredible than I have ever seen before. J
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