Revelation · chapter 21 of 22
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Revelation 21 describes a new heaven and a new earth, where God dwells with humanity, wipes away every tear and there is no more death, mourning or pain. The one seated on the throne declares that he makes all things new. An angel shows John the new Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb, with twelve gates, twelve foundations, walls of jasper and streets of gold, without temple or sun because God and the Lamb are its light.
After the final judgment of chapter 20, the book reaches its goal: renewed creation and the full presence of God with his people. The images of the city are symbolic and gather promises from Isaiah, Ezekiel and Genesis. Christians have understood them as a description of eternal life, and they differ on how much to take literally, but all see in them the greatest hope in the Bible.
John sees a new heaven and a new earth, as the first have passed away and the sea is no more. He sees the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. A loud voice from the throne declares that God will dwell with man and they will be his people. He will wipe away every tear, and death shall be no more, neither mourning nor crying nor pain, for the former things have passed away.
The one on the throne says: Behold, I am making all things new, and tells John to write, for these words are true. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and promises the spring of the water of life to the thirsty. The one who conquers will inherit these things: God will be his God and he his son. The cowardly, faithless, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters and all liars will have their portion in the lake of fire, the second death.
One of the seven angels of the bowls carries John in the Spirit to a great, high mountain to show him the bride of the Lamb, and he sees the city coming down from God with the glory of God and a radiance like clear jasper. It has a high wall, twelve gates, with twelve angels and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. An angel measures it with a golden reed: it is square, twelve thousand stadia, its wall 144 cubits. The wall is jasper, the city pure gold like clear glass, the foundations are jewels, the gates are pearls and the street is pure gold.
There is no temple in it: its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. It needs no sun or moon: the glory of God gives it light and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates never close, and only those written in the Lamb's book of life will enter.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
A loud voice declares that the dwelling place of God is with man and that he will dwell with them. It is the goal of the whole Bible: God with his people, without barriers, as in the beginning in Eden.
God will wipe away every tear and there will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain. The promise does not minimize present sorrow, but affirms that God himself will comfort it and remove it completely.
The one seated on the throne says that he makes all things new. He does not speak of abandoning creation but of renewing it, and this is the last time God speaks directly in the book.
There is no temple in the city because God and the Lamb are its temple, and it needs no sun because his glory lights it. God's presence is no longer limited to a building: everything is filled with his light.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: A new heaven and a new earth, and the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. — Revelation 21:1-2
Answer: As a bride prepared and adorned for her husband. — Revelation 21:2
Answer: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain. — Revelation 21:4
Answer: That he is making all things new. — Revelation 21:5
Answer: On the gates, the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the foundations, the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. — Revelation 21:12-14
Answer: Because its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. — Revelation 21:22
Revelation 21 is the great comfort of the Bible for those who suffer. God does not merely promise to ease pain but to make all things new. A group can set aside a moment to share losses and pray for one another, remembering that history ends with God wiping away tears, and that this hope sustains us today.
This vision also guides our present life: if the destiny is a renewed creation with God in the midst, what we do now for justice, healing and the care of others is not lost. And the chapter's closing warning reminds us that the invitation to drink the water of life is for everyone who thirsts.
Revelation 21 leaves the new Jerusalem filled with the glory of God. In chapter 22, the last of the book, John sees the river of the water of life and the tree of life, and Christ promises to come soon.
In biblical imagery the sea often represents chaos, danger or separation. Its absence suggests that in the new creation everything that threatens peace disappears. Some take it literally; others, as a symbol that evil ends. The Bible does not teach that God hates the created sea.
The vision describes it as a bride and as a cube-shaped city with symbolic measurements (twelve thousand stadia, 144 cubits). Many understand that it represents God's glorified people and their dwelling place; others expect a real city. All see that it speaks of full communion with God.
It is the image of final judgment and definitive separation from God for those who reject his grace. The list of sins in verse 8 describes a lifestyle of rebellion, not every single failing. The warning, together with the invitation to drink freely of the water of life, is a call to repentance.