Troublesome Topic: The City as a Picture of the Church Rather than Heaven

3 Reasons People Think the Holy City Refers to Heaven:

1. It sounds like it is describing a physical place.
2. Some things, like the need for light in v. 23, can go either way; they can refer to a physical place we call heaven, or to the people of God. The same can be said about some aspects of vv. 24-27.
3. We want heaven to be about things that satisfy our self-centered nature. Seeing “the city” as heaven appeals to our spiritual immaturity, whereas seeing “the city” as a picture of the holy people of God seems like an extremely high standard.

7 Reasons the City is a Picture of the Church Rather than Heaven:

First Reason: We have failed to give proper importance to how the beginning of the passage establishes an equivalency between the two images of “bride” and “city.”

Twice in this passage the bride and the city are shown to be the same thing; the first time is Revelation 21:2, the second is Revelation 21:9 and Revelation 21:10.

In Revelation 21:2 the city is described as a bride. Starting in Revelation 21:9 the bride is described as a city.

Second Reason: There appears to be no break in the narrative, no new topic of discussion. Rather, the vision flows seamlessly from a reference to the bride and wife of Christ to a description of the city of peace. Since the bride and wife of Christ refer to the followers of Jesus, we should not change the topic and suddenly start talking about heaven. Such a change is not warranted by the text.

Third Reason: We have failed to understand the use of symbolism as the people of John’s day would have. If it sounds like a city, then we think it is referring to a city. But we have missed the clues that point toward it being symbolism. Some of these indicators are: A measuring rod of gold Revelation 21:15, a city that is shaped like a cube Revelation 21:16, walls that were exaggeratedly thick Revelation 21:17, a wall made of jasper Revelation 21:18, a city of pure gold so pure it is called glass Revelation 21:18, foundations adorned with precious stones Revelation 21:19&20, gates made of a single pearl Revelation 21:21, and streets made of pure gold like transparent glass Revelation 21:21. All of these were signals to the readers to interpret those things symbolically, not literally. No one uses a measuring rod of gold, that is not what gold is for. A city cannot realistically be a cube. Notice that the city is first described as a square, then as a cube Revelation 21:16. Which is it? Both symbols mean the same thing—balance. As symbolism it makes sense, but a literal interpretation gets stumped by the seeming contradiction. Foundations usually get covered up fully or partially, so some of the precious stones would be unseen if they were placed in a foundation. Gold does not become clear like glass when it is purified; it retains its color, and the people of that day knew it. Since it includes another contradiction if taken literally, it must be symbolism. As a word picture the word “city” refers to 1) security and stability, 2) a center of commerce and power, or 3) to a collection of people. In this context it must be a collection of people because it has been tied so closely to the bride/wife of Christ.

These would have been seen by John’s contemporaries as symbols which point to deeper truths; we tend to think of the city as a place (heaven). They saw it all as symbolism which fits more readily with spiritual truths being lived out in the lives of humans than with the physical aspects of a specific place. Yet despite the clues, many modern believers think these things apply to heaven and they envision heaven as a place with lots of pretty things. We think the strange way of constructing things is proof that heaven will be a beautiful place. Let me remind you that God is more concerned about the condition of our souls than He is with impressing us with pretty things.

Yes, some will agree that it is symbolism, but symbolism that depicts heaven—for instance, heaven is balanced. But there is nothing grammatical or contextual to point to a change from the church to heaven; actually the text indicates that the bride and the city are the same thing, and we all agree that the Bride cannot be heaven.

While a city could be used to describe either heaven or the church, trying to apply it to heaven has little purpose; applying this symbolism to the people of God produces a powerful and balanced message with a clear purpose. The harlot was also pictured as a city—Babylon, Revelation 17:5 . It is a woman given the title of a city. The imagery of a harlot and that of a city are mixed, but it is obvious that they refer to the same thing. In that case no one has trouble picturing the city as a gathering of wicked people, or the seat of leadership for the wicked people. It is never seen as a picture of hell. Why then do we want to change gears when it comes to the bride and the holy city, Jerusalem? The text leads us to understand that the bride and the city are the same thing, not two different things.

What was “Coming down out of heaven from God” (v. 10)? If the city were a reference to heaven, it would mean that “heaven is coming down out of heaven.” That makes no sense and communicates nothing.

Fourth Reason: The exclusive use of symbolic numbers would have been a signal to the people of John’s day that this whole passage is symbolism, not something literal. Whenever the numbers used are exclusively numbers with strong symbolic meaning, and when those numbers are repeated, people knew to think in terms of symbolism. The number 12 is used in verses 12, 14, and 21, the number 12,000 is used in v. 16, the number 144 is used in v. 17. and the number 3 is used in verse 13. Notice that only symbolic numbers are used, no number is mentioned that does not have a symbolic meaning, except for the listing of the jewels in the foundations of the walls, but that is also a way to emphasize that there are twelve.

Fifth Reason: The giving of the details of a list was a form of emphasis. For instance, v. 13 could have simply said that the 12 gates were arranged with 3 on each side of the city. But no, extra effort is taken to specifically say, “three on the East, three on the North,” etc. While this was not necessary for communicating information, it was necessary for communicating emphasis. It was a way of putting a star beside this to indicate that we should pay close attention to this point because there is something here that is worth giving careful thought to; there is something hidden under the surface, something that does not meet the eye at first glance. While it is veiled, it is very important.

God seldom gives us information we do not need, and it is even more rare for him to place emphasis on information for the sake of information. The type of emphasis we see here shouts at us to pay attention because there is a spiritual truth we need to apply to our lives.

The lesson being taught there is one of balance and openness; access to God’s people is open to all; none are excluded, and none are given an advantage. The listing and enumerating of the twelve types of jewels found in the foundation are also a form of emphasis. Here it is saying that the foundational truths on which God and His people built their system of spiritual protection are very desirable and pure.

Sixth Reason: The emphasis on purity, especially in verse 11, 18 and 21, seems to indicate people instead of a place. It is possible for a physical place to be set apart as holy and pure, but usually the idea of purity fits best when describing people and their actions. The fact that verses 11, 18 and 21 use four tools to communicate “pure” seems to point to the purity required of God’s people.

Seventh Reason: The harlot was also pictured as a city—Babylon Revelation 17:5. It is a woman given the title of a city. The imagery of a harlot and that of a city are mixed, but it is obvious that they refer to the same thing. In that case no one has trouble picturing the city as a gathering of wicked people, or the seat of leadership for wicked people. It is never seen as a picture of hell. Why then do we want to change gears when it comes to the bride and the holy city, Jerusalem? The text leads us to understand that the bride and the city are the same thing, not two different things.

The next lesson is: The Great White Throne