Whereas Ezekiel describes the gates from north to east to south to west, John does so from east to north, and then from south to west. East is first. That was where, in Israel, the tribes of Issachar, Judah and Zebulon camped around the Tabernacle.
Revelation 21
Day 332: And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The wall’s twelve foundations bear the twelve names of the Lamb’s Apostles, all of whom were from Israel. Paul writes to the Ephesians: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household…
Day 333: And the one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.
Prior to the ministry of the ‘two witnesses’ John himself had had to take measurements. He had had to measure the ‘Temple of God’, literally and metaphorically, and establish the norm with a rod like a staff, for the altar, and also for those who were worshipping in it…
Day 334: The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.1
To facilitate an approximate figure for the size of the City we have set the cubit somewhere between the ordinary cubit (45 cm) and the royal cubit (52.5 cm), at around fifty centimetres. The ‘stadion’ is some 185 metres.
Day 335: The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick.1
The distance from Berlin to Moscow is approximately 2,220 kilometres. That is the length of a side of the Heavenly Jerusalem, if a Greek stadion is used. If a Roman stadion is used, then the distance is that from Amsterdam to New Delhi in India, or to somewhere deep in China.
Day 336: And the material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
Once again John makes a comparison between the wall material in the New Jerusalem with earthly precious materials such as diamonds and the pure gold of the City as clear glass. What an unimaginable spectacle that must be!
Day 337: The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone.
There were twelve foundation stones and on them are the twelve names of the Apostles— stones full of light and colour, solid and yet transparent, shining transparency, decorated with an incredible sense of beauty.
Day 338: The first foundation stone 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.
Isaiah also sees the city of Jerusalem built with precious stones and studded with jewels when he contemplates Zion’s glorious future. That Glory will come after the oppression and the misery.
Day 339: And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
Again, John uses a comparison with materials and things on earth as he knew them, to describe what he saw in the Heavenly dimensions. It looks like…it had the appearance of…it seems to be made of…etc.
Day 340: And I saw no Temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its Temple.
Both belong inseparably to one another, the Lord God and the Lamb. They constitute the heart of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. It is actually one great Temple, in fact. A Temple is a separate building in which God dwelt among Israel.
Day 341: And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the Glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
How deeply many pious, faithful people in Israel have missed their Temple; they did not have a Temple for centuries. Hosea 3:4 says “For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar [Temple] and without ephod or teraphim.”
Day 342: The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
In the Jewish expectation of the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, it is remarkable that the ‘role of the Messiah’ is seen by the rabbis to be more that of someone who will teach the Torah than in ruling as King.