What Are the New Jerusalem Dimensions and the Reason for the Details?
Bible Study
(Verses 15-17) The same angel that appeared to John in Revelation 17 is going to give him details of the new Jerusalem dimensions. This is the same angel that previously revealed to John a glimpse of what life is going to be like in the Holy City.
Also, several thousand years ago, the prophet Isaiah spoke from God to reveal additional details of life that go beyond the dimensions of the new Jerusalem. You can explore that more here.
In the previous passage of Revelation 21, John could see what the new Jerusalem will look like from a distance. Now the angel reveals a measuring rod to explain the dimensions of the Holy City.
It’s important to remind ourselves that we are exploring great heavenly things. It’s perfectly normal for us to find difficulty in wrapping our arms around what John is writing. John attempts to do his best at describing what he sees.
Remember, faith comes by hearing. Hearing comes from the word of God. The full experience of being with our Creator and Savior in this glorious city will not come until that day when we arrive.
Revealing the New Jerusalem Dimensions
Why does the angel present a measuring rod to show the new Jerusalem dimensions? Because the Holy City will be like nothing we’ve ever seen or ever will see or experience on this planet.
1,200 stadia is equivalent to about 1,400 miles or about 2,200 kilometers. Notice carefully. The dimensions of the new Jerusalem reveal that it’ll be 1,400 miles wide, 1,400 miles long, and 1,400 miles high. It’ll essentially be the shape of a cube.
If you were standing in the center of the City, you could travel east, west, north, or south for 700 miles before you would find yourself at one of the 12 gates of the City named after the 12 tribes of Israel. Not only that, but you could also venture 700 miles up or down before you would again find yourself at one of the City gates.
Again, we want to remind ourselves that we will not be made of the flesh of these sinful bodies that we currently occupy on a temporal basis. We will have glorified bodies just as Christ did after His resurrection.
This means that we will not be subject to gravity nor time. These are constraints that exist on this planet but will not exist in the new Jerusalem. This will be a world created by God that will be beyond any human words could ever describe. There will not even be a sun shining on the New Jerusalem.
“There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 22:5)
We’ll talk more about that in the last chapter, Revelation 22.
The Dimensions of the New Jerusalem Placed Into Context
Will the New Jerusalem be able to fit all of God’s children? The believers in Jesus Christ into this Holy City? That’s a great question for anyone to ask.
First, we don’t really know how many people will be entering into the New Jerusalem. We do know that true biblical Christians will be a minority. We also know that a majority of the planet will perish in the seven year Tribulation period. There will be many that will come to faith during Christ’s 1000 year reign on earth. But what that number is, only God knows.
So the question remains. Will there be enough room within the dimensions of the new Jerusalem? Enough room for all those saved by God’s free gift of salvation at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ?
It’ll Be Bigger Than We Could Ever Imagine
Let’s take a closer look based on the angel’s new Jerusalem dimensions given to John. We’ll use the United States for this example.
The contiguous United States is approximately 3.8 million square miles. Based on the angel’s dimensions, 1,400 miles long and 1,400 miles wide is about 1.9 million square miles. That would mean the new Jerusalem could fit the entire United States west of the Mississippi River or about half of the country.
But wait, the city dimensions are also 1,400 miles from top to bottom. This changes everything. The new Jerusalem dimensions of 1,400 miles wide by 1,400 miles long by 1,400 high put the Holy City at 2.7 billion square miles.
If we look at the territory of the United States from a linear perspective, we could fit roughly 722 contiguous United States into the dimensions of the New Jerusalem. These dimensions were given to John by the angel. This is almost mind-blowing.
So if your thought of the New Jerusalem is a place hustling and bustling with people elbow to elbow trying to get around, you may want to rethink that idea. Remember, this is only the city of the new Jerusalem. This Holy City will be situated somewhere within the new earth and the new heaven.
God is a Great and Almighty God
This is why heavenly matters are often bigger than the human mind can comprehend. Why is that? Because we have a holy, just, merciful, and loving God who is much bigger than we are or could ever be. He is the Almighty God of all creation. There is no other god like Him nor that could even compare to Him. None!
I hope that this creates a desire and longing in you for that day when we’ll be reunited with our loving Creator. Our Creator who desires to live among His creation. It certainly does for me.
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36)
Now the angel is about to take the most basic but important structures of the New Jerusalem dimensions. He will reveal what is unfathomable to the human mind.
Is there more to what the angel is about to reveal to John about the Holy City? Is there something in what the angel shows John that can only be seen when we actually find our home within the heavenly dimensions of the new Jerusalem? Let’s go and find out.
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