What structures are in the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem?

First. The walls of the city. “The construction of its wall was of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like clear glass” (Rev. 21:18). The city is fenced by God Himself — it is He who preserves it. It is made of pure gold that is like clear glass, heavenly and pure.

The world searches for gold and extracts it from gold mines, in which working conditions many die. Gold is mostly used to create the flashy adornment of golden jewelry or golden statues etc., none of which are essential for human life; and yet people die to procure it. However, gold in the Holy Bible often refers to heavenly glory whereby the believer lives in glory, his whole body is glorified, and his soul is glorified; and the inhabitants of heaven glorify God, for out of us creatures made of dirt He has fashioned beings that glorify God.

Upon the foundations of the Church are the names of the prophets and the apostles who undertook to deliver prophecies and preaching founded on the Christian faith. Their goal was for us to live by the apostolic biblical faith that grants inner joy, liberation from the love of material things, and salvation from every sin and wicked desire.

“The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones, the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst” (Rev. 21:19–20). What does this mean?

• a. These precious stones are symbols of the apostles of Christ, since it is an apostolic Church. The Holy Bible says, “Having being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself, being the chief cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20).

• b. The precious stones also symbolize the divine virtues that God grants us for our adornment. The divine virtues are the foundation upon which we are built up in eternity, and of which God grants us a token in this life through our striving. But there they shine within us with a heavenly glory. Therefore, the Lord comforts the striving Church by saying, “O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted.

Behold I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles with rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones … This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me, says the Lord” (Isa. 54:11, 17).

• c. The number twelve symbolizes the children of the kingdom. Each child of the kingdom is adorned with a divine adornment that differs from that of his fellows but is precious and beautiful. Thus, the members of the Church complete each another in profound unity.

Second. The gates. “The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl” (Rev. 21:21). The Lord Jesus is the pearl of great price for which a person sells all that he has, just to acquire it (Matt. 13:46). All the children of the kingdom who enter the gates have sold the world and bought that pearl.

Further, we find that each side has three gates, which are the Holy Trinity. Thus, on every side the Holy Trinity enlightens the vision of the nations to sell their possessions and acquire eternity, and so enter into the inheritance prepared for them. And some think that the twelve gates also refer to the twelve apostles whom the Lord Jesus — the incomparable Gate [cf. John 10:1–10] — fashions into gates, so that through their preaching all nations may enter into faith in Him.

Third. The market or thoroughfares. “And the street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass” (Rev. 21:21). The thoroughfares of the city symbolize a type of righteous person. In any case, the whole city is made of pure gold, meaning it is heavenly and contains no earthly thing; and of transparent glass, meaning it is free of defilement or complication, and in it, there is only simplicity and purity of heart.

Fourth. The temple. “But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev. 21:22).

• a. Of old, God asked the people to construct a tent of meeting [Ex. 40:2] where God met with the people through symbols and shadows. Later, He asked them to build a permanent temple to be the presence of God in the midst of humanity.

• b. But the Jews strayed and rejected the Lord, and the temple was destroyed; but the Lord offered us His Body as a new temple (John 2:19). We became of His flesh and of His bones (Eph. 5:30) and thus we became through Him a holy temple (1 Cor. 3:16–17) and God’s building (1 Cor. 3:9).

• c. At the same time, He passed over to us the bloodless sacrifice on Covenant Thursday, asking us to offer it in the temple of the New Testament, the token of the eternal temple.

• d. Yet the apostle John did not see a temple in eternity — not because there is no temple, but because “The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev. 21:22). This is a temple spacious and inviting, a temple endless and eternal.

Fifth. Illumination. “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of the Lord illuminated it. The Lamb is its light” (Rev. 21:23). Material means of lighting are superfluous once the Lord becomes our sun and lamp (Mal. 4:2).

Sixth. Glory. “And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life” (Rev. 21:24–27).

By its illumination and light, it shall light the way for many to journey towards it, for the Lord says, “…Many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 8:11). They will come in their glory and honor, casting away every worldly glory and temporal honor for its sake. They will come by their own will, not by compulsion or coercion. The gates are open to all, and everyone is invited. God desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. They will come and learn that its doors will never be shut, for it welcomes everyone without distinction between rich and poor, servants and master. They will come in the day, for nothing can enter it in darkness, neither can any worker of what is impure, disgraceful, or deceitful encroach upon it.