Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass. The foundations of the city’s wall 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; and the twelfth, amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
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Revelation 21:17-21 sits inside this longer paragraph.
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the wife, the Lamb’s bride.” He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal; having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. He who spoke with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, its gates, and its walls. The city is square, and its length is as great as its width. He measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand twelve stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal. Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass. The foundations of the city’s wall 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; and the twelfth, amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. The city has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there), and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it so that they may enter. There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Parallel Translations
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Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass.
The foundations of the city’s wall 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; and the twelfth, amethyst.
The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
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And he measured the wall therof. an cxliiii. cubittes: the measure that the angell had was after the measure that man vseth.
And the byldinge of the wall of it was of iaspar. And the cite was pure gold lyke vnto cleare glasse
and the foundacions of the wall of the cite was garnisshed with all maner of precious stones The fyrste foundacion was iaspar the seconde saphyre the thyrde a calcedony the fourth an emeralde:
the fyft sardonix: the sixt sardeos: the seventh crysolite the ayght berall: the nynth a topas: the tenth a crysoprasos: the eleventh a iacyncte: the twelfe an amatist.
The xii. gates were xii pearles every gate was of one pearle and the strete of the cite was pure golde as thorowe shynynge glasse.
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And hee measured the wall thereof, an hundreth fourtie and foure cubites, by the measure of man, that is, of the Angell.
And ye building of the wall of it was of Iasper: and the citie was pure golde, like vnto cleare glasse.
And the foundations of the wall of ye city were garnished with all maner of precious stones: the first foundation was Iasper: the second of Saphire: the third of a Chalcedonie: the fourth of an Emeraude:
The fift of a Sardonix: the sixt of a Sardius: the seueth of a Chrysolite: the eight of a Beryl: the ninth of a Topaze: the tenth of a Chrysoprasus: the eleuenth of a Iacynth: the twelfth an Amethyst.
And the twelue gates were twelue pearles, and euery gate is of one pearle, and the streete of the citie is pure golde, as shining glasse.
Cross-references (21)
- Isaiah 54:11-12 (v19) “You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with…
- Revelation 21:11 (v18) having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
- Revelation 21:18 (v21) The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass.
- Revelation 17:4 (v21) The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of…
- Exodus 28:17-21 (v19) You shall set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of ruby, topaz, and beryl shall be the first row; and the second row a…
Show all 21 cross-references
- Revelation 21:21 (v18) The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent…
- Revelation 22:2 (v21) in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit…
- Matthew 13:45-46 (v21) “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls, who having found one pearl of great price, he went and…
- Revelation 18:16 (v21) saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and…
- Revelation 21:11-12 (v21) having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal; having a great and high…
- 1 Kings 6:20 (v21) Within the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in its height; and he overlaid it…
- Isaiah 60:17-18 (v21) For bronze I will bring gold; for iron I will bring silver; for wood, bronze, and for stones, iron. I will also make peace your governor,…
- Revelation 21:19 (v18) The foundations of the city’s wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire;…
- Job 28:16-19 (v19) It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. Gold and glass can’t equal it, neither will it be…
- Revelation 4:3 (v20) that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at.
- Deuteronomy 3:11 (v17) (For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron. Isn’t it in Rabbah of the…
- Proverbs 3:15 (v19) She is more precious than rubies. None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.
- Revelation 7:4 (v17) I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:
- Revelation 13:18 (v17) Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six…
- Revelation 14:3 (v17) They sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the one…
- Revelation 21:9 (v17) One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, “Come…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (20 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 21 He addeth this, because the Angel had the shape…
He addeth this, because the Angel had the shape of a man.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv17–21 17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred…
17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
Ver. 17. An hundred and twenty four cubits] A cubit is six handfuls.
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That is, of the angel] That appeared as a man, but bigger and higher than ordinary; now because this holy city is thus measured, and that with the measure of a man, some think it to be of the Church militant. But some other passages in this and the following chapters cannot be otherwise taken according to the letter, than of the state of full perfection. They do best, in my opinion, that take in both.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv17–21 This could not be the measure of the compass,…
This could not be the measure of the compass, (it was for that much too little), nor of the height or breadth, (for either of them it was much too great), from whence Dr. Potter concluded, it must be the square measure; so as the height and breadth of it was twelve cubits, for twelve times twelve make one hundred and forty-four.
According to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel; as men use to measure, and as this angel measured, who appeared as a man in this action.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v18 Some will have all this to signify and represent…
Some will have all this to signify and represent the purest state of the church here upon earth; but if there shall be any state on this side eternity which answereth this glorious representation, how much more will the perfect glorious church in heaven fully answer it; What was said of Jerusalem of old may be truly spoken of the New Jerusalem above, Very excellent things are spoken of thee thou city of God, Psa 87:3 : her pavement of gold, her gates of pearl, her walls of precious stones, denoting the durableness and permanency of the saints’ happiness, the delight and satisfaction that accompany it, and the resplendent glory of it; as gold excels all metals, and is not subject to corruption, as precious stones are full of splendour and glory, in like manner will the mansions of heaven be most glorious, the conversation there pure and incorrupt, affording saints such an entire satisfaction as entirely exceeds all that the most rich and glorious things of this world can afford for the gratification of the outward senses.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv17–21 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and…
And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits,.... The root of which is twelve, for twelve times twelve is a hundred and forty four; which number is mystical and apostolical, and suited to the perfect state of this church: hence twelve gates, and twelve angels at them, and the names of the twelve tribes on them, and twelve foundations of the wall, and twelve thousand furlongs, the measure of the city.
According to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel; who talked with John, and measured the city, gates, and wall, and who appeared in the form of a man; and his reed might be, as some have supposed, the length of a man, six cubits, or six feet, as in Eze 40:5 and may denote that this business requires the utmost wisdom and understanding of a man, and even of an angel, to look into, and find out; see Rev 13:18 and also may signify the angelic state of the saints at this time, when the children of the resurrection will be like the angels of God, for immortality and glory.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv18–20 And the building of the wall was jasper -…
And the building of the wall was jasper - That is, the wall was built of jasper. And the city - The houses, was of pure gold.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv17–21 Verse 17. The wall-a hundred and forty and four…
Verse 17. The wall-a hundred and forty and four cubits] This is twelve, the number of the apostles, multiplied by itself: for twelve times twelve make one hundred and forty-four.
The measure of a man, that is, of the angel.] The cubit, so called from cubitus, the elbow, is the measure from the tip of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, and is generally reckoned at one foot and a half, or eighteen inches; though it appears, from some measurements at the pyramids of Egypt, that the cubit was, at least in some cases, twenty-one inches.
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By the cubit of a man we may here understand the ordinary cubit, and that this was the angel's cubit who appeared in the form of a man. Or suppose we understand the height of the man as being here intended, and that this was the length of the measuring rod. Now allowing this height and rod to be six feet, and that this was intended to have some kind of symbolical reference to the twelve tribes, mentioned Re 21:12, represented by the twelve gates; and to the twelve apostles, represented by the twelve thresholds or foundations; then twenty-four, the number of the tribes and apostles, multiplied by six, make precisely the number one hundred and forty-four.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv17, 19 Rev 21:17-18. And he measured the wall thereof —…
Rev 21:17-18. And he measured the wall thereof — That is, Lowman thinks, the height of the wall; one hundred and forty-four cubits — The square of twelve: about seventy-two yards high, according to the lesser cubit, or about eighty-six yards according to the greater, a height sufficient to express the most perfect security against all attempts of any surprise by an enemy. Doddridge understands these cubits of the thickness of the wall, with the same view, namely, to signify the great strength of the city, and that it might defy all assailants. According to the measure of a man — A measure common among men; that is, of the angel — For such was the measuring-rod, made use of by the angel. And the building of the wall was of jasper — The wall appeared to be built with unparalleled strength and magnificence, not of brick, or squared and polished stones, but of some precious stone, as solid, firm, and beautiful as a jasper. And the city was of pure gold — Namely, its houses and other buildings, separate from the wall; like unto clear glass — Or crystal. It seems it is the city in general, and not the gold, which is represented as shining like glass or crystal. It is not easy to understand how pure gold should shine like crystal: but a city adorned with crystal, set in gold, may easily be supposed to shine in that manner.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv17–21 And he measured the wall thereof - In respect…
And he measured the wall thereof - In respect to its “height.” Of course, its length corresponded with the extent of the city.
An hundred and forty and four cubits - This would be, reckoning the cubit at eighteen inches, two hundred and sixteen feet. This is less than the height of the walls of Babylon, which Herodotus says were three hundred and fifty feet high. See the introduction to chapter 13 of Isaiah. As the walls of a city are designed to protect it from external foes, the height mentioned here gives all proper ideas of security; and we are to conceive of the city itself as towering immensely above the walls. Its glory, therefore, would not be obscured by the wall that was thrown around it for defense.
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According to the measure of a man - The measure usually employed by men. This seems to be added in order to prevent any mistake as to the size of the city. It is an “angel” who makes the measurement, and without this explanation it might perhaps be supposed that he used some measure not in common use among people, so that, after all, it would be impossible to form any definite idea of the size of the city.
That is, of the angel - That is, “which is the measure employed by the angel.” It was, indeed, an angel who measured the city, but the measure which he employed was that in common use among people.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v17 The measure of a man, which is of an…
The measure of a man, which is of an Angel.[2] This seems, without doubt, the sense of it. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Mensura hominis, quæ est Angeli; Greek: metron anthropou, o estin aggelou.
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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv17–21 hundred . . . forty . . . four…
hundred . . . forty . . . four cubits--twelve times twelve: the Church-number squared. The wall is far beneath the height of the city.
measure of a man, that is, of the angel--The ordinary measure used by men is the measure here used by the angel, distinct from "the measure of the sanctuary." Men shall then be equal to the angels.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv17–21 17. The foursquare city was lined by a low…
17. The foursquare city was lined by a low foursquare wall; low, that is, in comparison with the vast height of the city itself. One hundred and forty-four cubits are two hundred and sixteen feet.
Measure of a man— That is, a human, not some great celestial measure, although made by the angel.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv17–21 17. he measured the wall] We should naturally understand,…
17. he measured the wall] We should naturally understand, the height of it. The walls of the historical Babylon are differently stated as having been 200, 300, or nearly 340 feet high. But we are told that they were about 80 feet in breadth (Hdt. I. 178:5: cf. Jer_51:58): so if we do admit that the City here is conceived as 340 miles high, there is a sort of proportion in making its walls not less than 73 yards thick.
according to … the angel] Rather, of an angel. Angels use, he means, a cubit of the same length as men—viz. the average length of the forearm, from the elbow to the finger-tip. It is perhaps implied, that angels are not of superhuman stature.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 21 (17) And he measured the wall thereof . .…
(17) And he measured the wall thereof . . .—Better. And he measured its wall by an hundred and forty-four cubits (i.e., in height), man’s measure, which is angel’s. The measurement is in man’s measure, but the reed was handled by an angel; the measure is true for men and true for angels; it may mean that the angel used the ordinary human measure, but may it not imply that the vision is true for all, for the earthly and for the heavenly? it is man’s measure, it is angel’s measure; the human will not find the picture untrue, though the city is not literal: it is figurative, but not mere figure. The recurrence of the number hundred and forty-four recalls us to the figurative character of the description. (Comp. Note on Rev_7:4.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv17–21 And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and…
And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits. (For the signification of the number, see on Rev_7:4) The parallel between the shape of the city as just related and the holy of holies (vide supra) almost seems to have insensibly suggested the transition from stadia to cubits. The discrepancy between the height of the city, which is twelve thousand furlongs (ver. 16), and the height of the wall, which is a hundred and forty-four cubits, has led to the suggestion that in the height of the city is included the hill on which it stands (Alford). Others understand that the wall is purposely described as of small height, because the writer wishes to indicate that "the most inconsiderable wall is sufficient to exclude all that is impure" (Dusterdieck). According to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel; of an angel. That is, the measure here used by the angel is that used by men. (cf. "the number of a man," Rev_13:18)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 21 And the building of the wall of It was…
Rev_21:18
And the building of the wall of It was of jasper.
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The jasper super-structure
That is, the superstructure, all that part of the wall which rises above the foundation rows, was one great mass of brilliant jasper. There was jasper at the foundation and jasper at the summit; this stone is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, of the heavenly building, clasping the intervening rows together by two perfect bands of light. Now what this jasper was cannot be exactly ascertained; but it is perfectly certain that it was not the stone which bears that name now. The common jasper is of many kinds. Sometimes purple, sometimes cerulean, sometimes green, and more frequently a green stone streaked with veins of red. Moreover, it is not very precious, not distinguished by its brilliancy, and it is far surpassed both in beauty and worth by many others. These marks prove beyond question that our jasper is not the stone which was in the apostles mind. The descriptions which are given of it in the Apocalypse correspond exactly with the characters of the diamond, and unless the diamond was unknown to the ancients, which is hardly possible, the jasper must have been this stone. But whether the diamond or not, the jasper of Johns vision had all the characteristic features of the diamond. It was the most precious of stones, it shone like the sun, and, while showing no particular colour, contained all the colours in its pure, white light. Bear in mind, further, that the jasper throughout the Apocalypse is the type of Christ. He that sat upon the throne was to look upon like a jasper, says the inspired writer; and, further, God Almighty and the Lamb are the light of the city, and this light is like unto a jasper. The thought of our text, then, is this--that above the foundation rows, with their stones of various colours and of various price, is the stone most precious, most brilliant, shining with the pure, white glorious light of Christ. Christ is the top-stone as He is the chief corner-stone, the superstructure as He is the foundation.
I. The superstructure of this building contains in perfection and completeness all that the foundations save in imperfection and incompleteness. The sapphire, the chalcedony, the sardius, and the rest, are very beautiful; but they are stones of one or, at most, two colours, and these colours not clear, but flecked and stained with spots and dark lines; while the white light of the jasper, like the white light of the sun, contains all the colours, and contains them in unmixed purity. As all the hues of the rainbow are in the suns rays, so all the hues of the twelve foundation stones are combined in the splendid jasper band which crowns the summit. Or, putting it in other words, while the foundations have each their separate grace, and shine each with their distinct glory, the jasper superstructure holds all the graces, there all the glories unite. All the special qualities found separately in the stones below are found in splendid combination in the building above. And this means--
1. That Christ combines in Himself all actual and possible graces. The prophets and apostles and holy men of old were like the rows of foundation stones, men of one colour, of some one or two distinguishing graces. At their best they were still one-sided men; giants in one Christ-like virtue. Gods glory shone through them all, but they were imperfect mediums. They intercepted more than they transmitted of it: they showed only one or two hues of the jasper light in perfection. But Christ unites them all, and shows them all in their most complete and glorious form. It is this all-comprehending beauty and perfection of Christ that charms us, touches every fibre of our moral nature, and chains our wandering fancies to His feet. Everything that we have ever admired, or ever longed for in our best moods, meets us here. Here is perfect love and sinless anger; mighty self-assertion, and still mightier self-abnegation; a childs humility, and a kings dignity; a peasants simplicity, and a philosophers profundity; Davids fearlessness, Elijahs zeal, Isaiahs raptures, Jeremiahs tears, a womans tenderness, and Gods almighty strength. Yes: in Him is all that the most aspiring souls ever longed for, and the most heroic hearts ever throbbed for. He is the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely.
2. The ideal Church, the Church that is to be, combines in itself, like Christ, all the graces. It is growing up out of the parti-coloured stones into the white, all-embracing jasper. The Church, as we have known it in history and experience, has always been one-sided; the successive ages of the Church have been almost exactly like the foundation stones, showing each of them one prominent colour. Each period in the Churchs history has been distinguished by one strongly marked Christian virtue. The first age was bold in confessing Christ, strong in its contempt for the world, full of the martyrs zeal; yet strangely impatient, almost inviting martyrdom. That early Church was sublime in some of its moods, but altogether childish in others. Look at the early monastic age again. There also the Church is strong in its contempt for the worlds pleasures, in its power to trample on the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life; but there is no Christ-like sympathy, no concern for a guilty, sorrowing world. See again the Church of the Reformation. It has a giants strength and courage; faith mighty enough to remove mountains. It walks with God, but its sternness is not tempered by the gentleness of Christ. It has the Masters hatred of sin without the Masters mercy for the sinner. And the Church of to-day, while great in charity and humanitarianism, is in danger of becoming, if it has not already become, just as one-sided in another way. It is tempted to look only on the gentle side of Christian doctrine, to let charity enfeeble its robustness, and pity for the sinner engender shallow views of sin. But the Church is striving up, patiently, through the coloured rows, to the superstructure. When it has attained that it will no longer be a partial, one-sided Church, but beautiful, with all the graces of the Master. More faithful than the early Church, purer from the worlds stains than the Monastic Church, stronger in its zeal against sin than the Reformation Church, and more tender and charitable than the Church of to-day. Nothing will be lacking to its completeness.
3. The same thing is true of the individual believer. Our growth in Christ is like that of the Church--each stage characterised by some prominent grace, but not one of them uniting all the graces. In the early stages of the Christian life there is much faith and courage, but little patience; in the later stages, great patience, but often diminished zeal. The average Christian is never eminently Christ-like at more than one or two points. It is as if he had to starve one grace to feed another. When our lives are fairest and our faith strongest we still show only one or two sides of the beauty of our Lord. We have His tenderness without His strength, or His gentleness without His stern hatred of sin, or His boldness without His forbearance. But this is because the building has not yet risen above the foundation rows. The superstructure of it is of jasper. We shall be complete in Christ. When He has finished the work in us there will be nothing wanting. No partial colouring there, but the white jasper light which combines all the hues. For each believer, then, as well as for the Church, the building of the wall is of jasper.
II. The beauty and glory of the superstructure are made up in great part of the elements which compose the foundation. If you could take the twelve rows of stones, bring all their varied colours into combination, concentrate their diffused radiance, and remove all impurity, the result would be just such a brilliant diamond belt as the wall of jasper. As you trace the foundation stones from the base to the summit, you see them becoming continually more glorious and ethereal, nearer to the perfect white, the higher bands taking in all the colours of the underlying ones until the jasper completes and embraces all. And the thought is this, that the glory of the perfected Church will be made up, as it were, of all that it has been and done and suffered through all the ages of its history. In spite of all evidences to the contrary, the Church of to-day is stronger and more faithful and more able to wrestle and endure, more like her Master than she has ever been before. For she has learnt something, and won something, from every one of her past experiences. The fervour of the first centuries, the purity and contempt for the world of the monastic age, the strong warrior-like faith and courage of the Reformation period, have influenced her, moulded her, bequeathed their best features to her. And all her waiting, all her labours, all her conflicts, are still helping to supply the colours which are wanted for her perfect beauty, so that the jasper wall may be at last complete. And this truth holds of individual believers just as fully as of the Church. The superstructure of our lives, the glory to which we are growing in Christ, is made up in large measure of the trials and struggles and patience, the faith and hope and love, of our present changeful experience. If you look at the solar spectrum--that is, sunlight divided into its component rays by passage through a prism--you will see all the colours of the rainbow there; and not only these colours, but dark lines, thousands and thousands of them--dark lines, and quite mysterious, for scientists cannot explain them, or say what purpose they serve. Yet they are necessary parts of the ray, they join with the colours to make the light complete. And so it is with our lives when they are fashioned into Christs perfect beauty, made up of many colours bright and sombre, from sorrowful blood-red to triumphant purple, and crossed with dark lines innumerable, incomprehensible. We would leave some of these colours out if we could, we should like to erase all the dark lines. We would have no red, especially--no passion, no tears, no sorrow. But the result would be miserably disappointing. For the royal purple is made up of blue and red, and the golden has red for its base, and the perfect white light needs all the colours and all the dark lines to make it complete. We cannot reach the jasper superstructure without passing through the trial and patience which are symbolised by the stones below. But all these things are helping to form the perfect Christ in us. The foundation-stones are beautiful because Christ is in them, but they are not like the top-stone which knows no darkness, no lines of sin, no incompleteness, and where joy and peace are stamped in perfect and eternal characters. We are reaching up to that, Christs strong hand holding ours to make the ascent secure. And the superstructure is of jasper. (J. G. Greenhough, M. A.)
The jasper wall
The picture of the measurement of the city has a colour and tone of triumph in it. Heaven rejoices in its divinely perfect proportions. Goal marks with the exactness of love the holy city that mirrors heavens own beauty, and would proclaim its lineaments and proportions of glory to all the world. There are some things that are not worth measuring. Heaven will take no copy of some lives, that they may die the sooner. The measurement also symbolises heavens inexorable demand for ideal perfection in human life. In the city of God there must be no defect or redundancy. The vessels of Gods glory must be without flaw and without alloy. No column in His temple shall be broken or deficient. God will not stop half-way, or be content with rough approximations to His ideal. Hence it is that the best human structures must fail and be condemned. This measuring is, therefore, further, a symbol of eternal preservation. To measure off implies a selection for some purpose or other, and here it is clearly for the purpose of honour and preservation. In the first verse of the eleventh chapter we find the temple of God and the altar, and them that worship therein, measured in the same way, while the court without the temple is left unmeasured. In that passage the symbol is explained by the assertion that the outer court is so far left unprotected that it has been given unto the nations for forty and two months.
I. The first question that presses for an answer in any attempt to interpret this symbol is, What relation does the jasper wall hold to the general structure and constitution of that city?
1. In the first place, the jasper wall gives unity to the varied expanse of the city. In the ancient conception, a city without a surrounding wall scarcely found a place in the mind at all, except as a picture of desolation and ruin. The myriad-sided life of the city and State can never be gathered into perfect harmony except within the wall of jasper, except by being pervaded by the Divine life in its profoundest manifestation of love. Men will of a certainty remain scattered, in spite of all human devices, until they are united by that transcendent love which comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Through this, and through this alone, are those strong conflicting interests overcome that separate men from one another.
2. Further, this wall of jasper marks the extent of the city. With the encompassing wall the city ends. The description which John gives, therefore, represents the ideal city as being of vast and magnificent extent. It is bounded by the jasper wall--that is, by nothing of narrower dimensions than the vast thought, purpose, and power of redeeming love. At this point John adds symbol to symbol, in order that there may be no mistake as to his meaning, and that the meaning may be emphasised in the strongest way. The length and breadth and height of the city are given in symbolic numbers. The three are equal, and their measurement is twelve thousand furlongs. That is, we are informed by a new symbol that this city is as vast as the energies of the Divine kingdom of redeeming love. Of course, it is now clear that the length and the breadth and the height of it cannot be other than equal. In every direction of its life it must reach the full measurement of redeeming power. As far as the love of Calvary can transform the lives of men, as far as it can lift the thoughts and purposes and attainments of men towards the lofty heavens, so great is the length, the breadth, and the height of the holy city.
3. It is instructive to note, further, that the wall of a city was its great watch-tower. Upon its summit the watchman stood to take observation of the country around, to warn the city of danger, and to instruct it concerning the outer world. The walls of the ideal city are not only ramparts, but also watch-towers, the place of furthest vision. The blind children of this world make the mistake of supposing that the city of redemption is a narrow enclosure, which hides from us the wide and varied prospect which they imagine lies before themselves. They pity us, and invite us to leave the narrowness of the Cross, and the fetters of redeeming love, that our vision may become as free as theirs. It is they that are enclosed around, and cannot see afar off. The Cross is the true watch-tower of the mind, as well as of the spirit. It is not only the centre of power, but also of wisdom and knowledge. It is the light of God in which we also shall see light. In proportion as we rise to the knowledge of the revelation of God in Christ, all the vast realm of thought will appear in its true character and proportions before us; for the God-man is, in every sense, the light of the world.
4. The jasper wall is, further, representative of the defence of the city. The need of defence against attack was probably the earliest reason for the construction of the ancient city walls, the other ideas of which we have spoken having afterwards grown upon this underlying one. So the ideal city is safe for ever, guarded by this wall of jasper, which is great and high. No battering ram can beat down these walls, for they are constructed out of the mightiest forces of omnipotence, the forces of eternal grace and infinite love.
II. A few words will suffice to show the relation of the jasper wall to the foundations of the city. The first thing that strikes us as impressively suggestive is the fact that the deepest base of the city and its towering walls are composed of the same material. When we begin to search for the strength of the twelve foundations, John meets us with the assertion: The foundation is jasper. When we raise our eyes to behold its lofty ramparts, and would fain know what its topmost glory is that mingles with the skies, John again says: The building of the wall thereof was jasper. It is the symbolic representation of the utterance of the Divine Saviour, who says: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. In Christ, the effulgence of the Fathers glory, the first foundations are laid of the city of a glorified human life, and in Him its final splendour will be realised. The name of Jesus is the all-potent source of new life for the fallen sons of earth, and it shall be the eternal boast and wonder of the glorified. As is the lowest foundation of the holy city, so shall be its supremest splendour. The Cross can never be superseded. The wall of jasper is a living growth out of the foundations of precious stones. This living relation in the growth of the ideal city is determined by eternal and inexorable law. The citys jasper wall cannot be built unless the foundations are set in precious stones, and the deepest of these is jasper. Passing from symbolic language to plainer speech, the quality of a citys life cannot rise higher than its deepest foundations. The nature of the principles and ideals upon which men proceed will determine the value and permanence of such a social life as they are likely to create. Upon foundations of iron and brass nothing better than iron and brass can ever be built. If our ideals fall short of the divinest that are possible to men, if our deepest principles fall short of the glory of the eternal skies, then the building of the ideal city becomes for ever impossible for us. On the other hand, the foundations of precious stones cannot fail to issue in the wall of jasper. When Divine forces form the base, the city is certain to rise in the likeness of God. Out of the love of the Cross a kingdom of love shall of necessity grow. All ye that desire to build the jasper wall, remember that it cannot be built except on the jasper foundation.
III. There are one or two points remaining in the characterisation of the jasper wall which must receive brief notice. One consists in the measurement of the thickness of the wall, which is declared to be a hundred and forty and four cubits--that is, twelve cubits by twelve. This is clearly, once more, the number that symbolises redemption, and so brings the thickness of the city-wall into line with the twelve thousand furlongs that measure the length and breadth and height of it. In the last place, it is instructive to note that the city when measured proves to be an exact cube. The length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal. The cube has from ancient times been regarded as a symbol of ideal perfection. Here human life is at last full and complete, having found the complete cycle of its power. Probably, however, Johns picture is more immediately connected with the form of the holy of holies in the tabernacle, which was also a perfect cube, no doubt based upon the ancient idea of that form as being specially perfect and sacred. (John Thomas, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 21 17. The wall thereof, an hundred and forty and…
17. The wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits. Again we have twelve times twelve, the square of a favorite and sacred number. The city has twelve gates, twelve angels, twelve foundations, and a wall twelve times twelve cubits high. That is, of the angel. The measure of a man and of an angel will be the same in the New Jerusalem.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv17, 21 (See Scofield "Heb 1:4")
angel
(See Scofield "Heb 1:4")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 21 The wall was built of jasper and the city…
The wall was built of jasper and the city of pure gold
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Someone had built the wall with jasper and the city with pure gold" (See: Active or Passive)
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pure gold, like clear glass
The gold was so clear that it is spoken of as if it were glass. (See: Simile)
The foundations of the wall were adorned
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Someone adorned the foundations of the wall" (See: Active or Passive)
jasper ... emerald ... carnelian
These are valuable stones. Jasper may have been clear like glass or crystal, and carnelian may have been red. Emeralds are green. See how you translated these in Revelation 4:3. (See: Translate Unknowns)
sapphire ... agate ... onyx ... chrysolite ... beryl ... topaz ... chrysoprase ... jacinth ... amethyst
These are all precious gems. (See: Translate Unknowns)
translationWords
pure
gold
found
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv17, 18, 19, 21 21:17 In the ancient world, walls were important not…
21:17 In the ancient world, walls were important not only to the defense and boundary of a city, but also to its status. That these walls are 216 feet thick (Greek 144 cubits) indicates the strength of God’s redeemed people. The measurement of 144 cubits again uses a multiple of 12 to represent God’s people. A cubit was the length of a man’s forearm, with a standard length of about 18 inches.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.