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"I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I
will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles and all thy borders of
pleasant stones" (Isa. 54: 11, 12).
Here, this city is seen to be an earthly reflection of the heavenly Jerusalem, but must
not be confused with it. One feature alone shows that the two cities are distinct, the gates
of the one are of carbuncles, the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem were "every several gate
of one pearl" (Rev. 21: 21). Consequently there can be no confusing of these two cities,
beautiful as they both will be. The city of Isa. 54: may be invested by an enemy, and
the promise is that no weapon that is formed against it shall prosper (Isa. 54: 15-17),
but there is no thought in the Apocalypse that the heavenly Jerusalem will ever be, or
ever could be thus threatened. The city that Abraham looked for cannot be the city of
Isa. 54:, it must have been the city of Rev. 21: and 22:
Some difficulty may be experienced by the reader when he reads the dimensions of
the heavenly Jerusalem, given in Rev. 21: 16:
"And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he
measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth
and the height of it are equal."
Commenting on this verse, and the problem that arises, Dr. Bullinger wrote in his
Apocalypse "In this case the city will be 1,500 miles high" and, referring to another
system of measurement, says "Is 375 miles high easier to believe than 1,500?" We know
that great changes will take place not only in the Holy land but in the earth at large, and
so a city of these vast proportions, set in the centre of a world in which there was "no
more sea", need not be disproportionate. However, an article in The Faith suggested that
12,000 furlongs refer to the area of the square base, and the square root of 12,000 is 109,
which, taking the stadium to be 582 feet (see Twentieth Century Dictionary), gives
about 12 MILES for the length of one of the square sides. By comparing this with
Ezek. 48: 35, and 18,000 measures or reeds of 6 cubits would give us, with 25 inches
to a cubit, a circumference of 46 miles. This, when divided by four, gives 11 miles for
one side and so is practically identical with the suggested measurement given above, and
means, if it be true, that the heavenly Jerusalem would descend and rest upon the basis
formed by the restored Jerusalem on earth. A city 12 miles square is a reasonable
proportion, and 12 miles in height could symbolize world-wide dominion, 12 denoting
Governmental perfection.
However, we are perfectly sure that when the day of fulfillment comes, there will be
perfect harmony between the event and the prophetic record. Whatever the size the city
may be, it will perfectly fulfil the purpose for which it was prepared. It will be the
jeweled centre of the new earth.
We return now to the question, when will the New Jerusalem descend? When the
New Jerusalem descends from heaven, there will be: