The dimensions of the city Revelation 21v15-17
"And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, 12,000 furlongs. The length and breadth and height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is of the angel."
In the gates of the city, we considered its' protection from any hostile ingress; in the wall ,with it's 12 foundations we thought of it' permanence; now in the measurements of the city we have it's perfection. Note the golden reed, thus it is measured by the highest standards; only the best will do for the new order of things. God has always measured His work, and it must be seen to be perfect. God is a mathematician, (He invented the concept, and we are finding out about it), and He uses it to measure many things, both material and spiritual. The entire universe depends on the syncretisation of mathematical formulae by which all things hold together.
- All things in the tabernacle in the desert were measured, even down to the half cubit! Since this is described as "the pattern of things in the heavens," we understand He is a God of order. The same is true of the temple built by Solomon.
- .He measured the science of creation, Isaiah 40 verse12 " Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out the heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance."
- He measures a man's life, even such a man as the king of Babylon in Daniel 5 verse 27 "thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting" King Darius' life ended that night!
- He measures individual faults and character as in Matthew 7v1-2 "with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
He measures the house where He dwells, any one of us would do the same in our dwelling place. Zechariah 2 verse 1-2 "behold a man with a measuring line......to measure Jerusalem." The Lord Jesus "walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands" in Revelatio chapters 1-3. Revelation 11 measuring the temple in the period of the tribulation, and now measuring the golden city, because everything God does must be measured.
Consider the vast size of the city. 12000× 12000×12000 stadia!. A Greek stadia is over 500 feet! Do the maths, it is an enormous structure. It is hard to visualise, but there is no reason to consider it as anything other than literal.. Consider it's shape, it is a perfect cube. Bear in mind the residents have spiritual bodies and so movement may be multi-dimensional. The cubic shape is important because the holy of holies in both the tabernacle and the temple were a perfect cube, thus even it's shape symbolises the presence of God . The city is, indeed the Father's house. The repetition of the number 12 in the dimensions of the wall serves to remind us of Divine governmental perfection.
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