New Jerusalem
Reading the Bible today about the New Jerusalem talked about in Revelation chapter 21, and how large it will be. I looked and looked, and could not find anything, so I spent a couple of hours drawing up a CAD model of the United States, and then drawing the city of New Jerusalem to scale, and placed that model on the United States. The picture is below.
Revelation 21:9-25 (NKJV) Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 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, 20 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. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 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. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).
1,400 miles high. . . 1,400 miles wide in each dimension. An average story of a building might be 10 feet. A city 1,400 miles high would have the equivalent of 739,000 stories. . . remember each story is 1,960,000 square miles (1,400 x 1,400). Total area of the city is 1,448,440,000,000, that is one and a half trillion square miles. That would be 206 square miles for every man, woman, and child of the approx. 7 billion people alive on the earth today.
The total area of the earth is 197,000,000 square miles. The surface area of the New Jerusalem (at 10 feet per story) is 7.3 times larger than the entire surface area of the earth.
Another way to look at it, the International Space Station orbits at roughly 254 miles above the earth. The upper boundary of New Jerusalem will be over 1100 miles above the ISS orbit.
The thought that started all of this:
The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass.
(Revelation 21:21 NLT)
How massive must the gates be for such a city. . . and each gate is made of a single pearl. . . Imagine a pearl a hundred. or a thousand feet in diameter. . . passing through those gates illuminated by the heavenly glow of those divinely grown pearls.
A pearl is caused by an irritation. Without an irritation there is no pearl. These monstrously large gates through which all the inhabitants of New Jerusalem gain access to the city, are pearls. . . . The irritations. . . the disobediences. . . the rebellions could these all be reflected in the laying down by God, of layer upon layer the mother of pearl? . . .
All God's anguish, and tears, and frustrations finally laid to rest with the culmination of the construction and the bride's moving into her eternal abode. . . the city of New Jerusalem.
Oh how I want to pass through those pearly gates. . .
Oh how I want to spend eternity within that heavenly city. . .
And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
(Revelation 21:23-27 NLT)
Let my name be written there. . .
Thank you my God. . .
I love you my Lord. . .
❤
Dave
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