The Holy City, Jerusalem Wife of the Lamb

The Holy City, Jerusalem Wife of the Lamb Dimensions:

Spiritually 

There is no temple is in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple

The city shines with the glory of God

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp

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.

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it

The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into the city

Nothing impure will ever enter the city, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

The City in general 

A measuring rod of gold was used to measure the city, its gates and its walls

The city is laid out like a square, as long as it was wide

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia (approximately 1,400 miles) in length, and as wide and high as it is long

The brilliance of the city is like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal

The great street of the city is of gold, as pure as transparent glass

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse.

Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Wall and Gates 

The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits (72 yards) thick

The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass

The city has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates

On the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel

There are three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west

The twelve gates are twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl

On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there

Foundation 

The wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The foundations of the city walls are decorated with every kind of precious stone:
The first foundation was jasper,
the second sapphire,
the third agate,
the fourth emerald,
the fifth onyx,
the sixth ruby,
the seventh chrysolite,
the eighth beryl,
the ninth topaz,
the tenth turquoise,
the eleventh jacinth,
and the twelfth amethyst



My interpretation of what The Holy City The New Jerusalem will look like:
- God and the Lamb are the temple and they will be seated on a throne either in the middle of the city or there back to the center of one of the walls
- God and the Lamb will have servants who serve them.  Those honorable servants will be clearly marked as the name of the Lord will be written on their foreheads.  Which means people in the future will certainly have some form of a body with a head.
- At our present earth is governed by the sun and to a much lesser extent the moon.  Without the sun all plant life would cease to live and no one would be able to see anything as eventually all light sources outside of sun would cease.  We would be in complete darkness which would lead to chaos.  Ultimately no sun means no life.  In the new world to come the concepts of sun, moon, and any form of light will be obsolete.  God himself will replace those things and he himself will be the basis of all knowledge, intelligence, and power.   In other words all people living in the Holy City will walk by Spirit not by the lesser forces of might or strength.  The servants of God will always see through the eyes of God.  They will see as he means for them to see and not by the lower powers we presently see by.  They will see and experience the world from truth of how God meant for us to see things.  
- Mankind of this age have three eternal destination in the after life: the New Jerusalem, the nations of the earth, or the second death also referred to as lake of fire
- the battle against impurity will continue through all eternity however it will never be enter the Gates of the Holy City
- decay and vulnerability of death will ever be present outside of the gates of the Holy City.  At any time of the Holy presence of God is death.  The people of the nations will rely upon the Holy City for all life as the light will be shown from the glory of God, the leaves are the source of healing for the nations, and the river of life flows from the throne of God.  All three of these vital sources must regularly be supplied and are only available from the source of all life which is the Holy City.  
- the city will be a square open on the top.  There are a total of 12 gates three on all four sides of the city.  The city is a little less than 1,400 miles long as it wide as it is tall.  1,400 miles is like going from the farthest southern tip of Texas to mid Iowa.
- the city will have 12 foundations my guess is the entire make up of the entire city including walls and foundations will be like a rectangle like the old testament tabernacle.  Perhaps the foundations in their entirety will also be 1,400 miles in length, height, and width.  Perhaps each one will be 1,000 stadia (over 115 miles)

Thoughts on the great river, jumbo merge (ge 2:9-14; re 22:1-4) 

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city.  10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin[a] and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.[b] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

  3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

Right vs. Holy

Right Vs. Holy: What Shabbat Reveals About the Heart of Obedience

Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person 

continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to 

do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.

- Revelation 22:11

This verse does more than describe the end of all things—it reveals the four spiritual paths every person and every decision walks, even now.

According to Revelation, Scripture presents the character of a person as moving within four spiritual directions of life:
1) wrong, also translated as unjust, unrighteous, impure, or evildoer
2) vile, also known as filthy
3) right 
4) holy

By faith, I would say that every decision carries four possible directions: wrong, vile, right, or holy. Of these four, God calls us to live holy lives and to make choices that are whole and set apart.

1 Peter 1:15–16 (ESV)

“But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

Wrong vs. Vile

The difference between wrong and vile is often clear. Examples of wrong actions might include making a rolling stop at a stop sign, choosing not to work when it is clear you need to earn income, or neglecting a responsibility you have already committed to fulfill.  Clear examples of vile behavior include sexual immorality, murder, and lying under oath.

If the difference between wrong and vile is often visible on the surface of our actions, the difference between what is right and what is holy is revealed only in the posture of the heart.

However, discerning the difference between what is right and what is truly holy requires a much deeper level of spiritual discernment.

A righteous person makes good decisions with limited sight. A holy person makes decisions by the discernment of the Holy Spirit, who alone sees the whole. 

A life focused solely on being “right” — or making the “right” decision — often leads to fatigue, because it roots us in a relationship with rules and facts rather than in communion with the Holy Spirit.

But a holy life, and decisions shaped by the pursuit of a holy outcome, invite divine alignment and optimization. Holiness opens the door to the presence of God. And in His presence, our lives and our choices are no longer carried by our own strength, but upheld by the Almighty.

There, we find rest. And more than rest, we discover an intimate friendship with God.

Nowhere is this tension between being right and being holy more clearly lived out than in how we approach the gift and command of Shabbat.

Righteous Decisions vs. Holy Decisions: A Shabbat Example

Let’s take Shabbat as a living example of the difference between righteousness and holiness.

The Lord commands us to rest from all our labor:

Exodus 20:8–11 (ESV)

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

A righteous person seeks to honor this command by striving to apply it as fully and consistently as possible. In principle, this means ensuring that their household, their employees, and all those under their authority cease from labor. Yet when this command is carried into today’s 24/7 economy, its full weight becomes clear.

To follow the letter of this law in absolute terms would require more than personal rest. It would mean withdrawing from financial systems that continue to operate through the Sabbath, halting investment activity, and even discontinuing essential utilities and services that continue to function regardless of personal obedience. In this sense, complete compliance becomes a burden that few, if any, can fully carry.

A holy person, however, recognizes something deeper embedded within the design of God’s law.

Holiness begins with the understanding that we are not capable of fulfilling the law in its full measure by our own strength (Romans 3:20; Romans 8:3; Galatians 2:16; John 15:5).  The law does more than instruct—it reveals our dependence. This limitation is not a flaw in God’s design, but part of it. It brings us to the recognition that we are finite, fragile, and in constant need of God to sustain what we cannot.

In the case of Shabbat, a holy person chooses to rest, to set the day apart, and to honor God in spirit and in truth—while acknowledging that certain necessary systems and services may continue beyond their control. Rather than claiming perfect obedience, they come before the Lord with reverence and dependence, trusting Him to cover what they cannot.

This is where the law does its deepest work. It places us in a posture not of self-sufficiency, but of childlike reliance.

No matter how much we mature in faith, we never outgrow our need for God. Before His fullness, we remain like infants—dependent on His mercy, His provision, and His protection. Holiness is not found in proving our strength, but in confessing our weakness and resting in His.

Shabbat, then, becomes more than a day we observe—it becomes a mirror that reveals whether we are striving for obedience alone, or resting in dependence on God Himself.

Conclusion: The Path of Holiness

In conclusion, we have seen that both people and their decisions ultimately fall into four spiritual directions: vile, wrong, right, or holy. While the world often measures life by what is merely right or wrong, Scripture calls the children of God to something higher — a holy life.

Paradoxically, a holy life is not a life that claims wholeness in itself. It is a life that has been broken open before God and found wanting by the law. The holy person stands not on self-righteousness, but on dependence. Before the Lord, they recognize themselves as infants — in constant need of mercy, guidance, and saving power.

This is why God moved to redeem Israel, and why the name Yeshua itself means “The Lord saves.” Salvation is not given to the self-sufficient, but to those who know they cannot save themselves.

Holiness, then, is not the achievement of perfection, but the confession of need. It is the daily choice to trust the One who sees the whole when we only see in part. And in that trust, our lives are no longer carried by our own strength, but upheld by the grace and faithfulness of God.

Scripture closes this tension with a sobering mirror for every self-sufficient heart:

Revelation 3:17 (ESV)

“For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

This was not written for a distant audience, but for every one of us. No matter how well we believe we keep the law, we all stand before this same mirror—exposed, dependent, and in need of the saving grace of God.