NOTES for Rev 21:9-22:5
The heavenly Jerusalem is shown to the apostle in a vision in considerable detail. And at the foundation of its architectural dimensions lies the number twelve, a number, of course, symbolic, connected both with the fullness of the people of God, consisting of twelve tribes, and with the fullness of the messianic community, consisting of twelve apostles.
The fullness of the Church is shown to John as the unity of the fullness of the people of God and the fullness of the messianic apostolic community that grew out of it. There can be no doubt that the heavenly Jerusalem is an image of the heavenly Church: it is called "the bride of the Lamb," and in the New Testament books this is precisely what the Church of Christ is called. The precious stones mentioned in the book, with which the foundation of the city is adorned, are the same sacred stones used to adorn the Tabernacle: thus the whole city is revealed to the apostle as one great sanctuary.
The river of living water mentioned in the book recalls Ezekiel's vision, in which he sees this river flowing from under the foundation of the Temple; in John's vision it flows through the city, sanctifying it and giving it life. The trees along the riverbanks are the same as in Ezekiel's vision. There is no uncleanness, "nothing accursed," in the city: the Kingdom and abiding in it are incompatible with any evil and any sin.
But purification and transfiguration are possible for everyone who wants them, and only those who are "devoted to abomination and falsehood," who have chosen them and do not want to part with them, remain outside the Kingdom. As for the Temple, the sanctuary, there is no sanctuary in the earthly sense in the Kingdom; it is not needed there. The sanctuary of the Kingdom is that very Throne of glory which some saw in the Temple during worship as if from afar and through a barrier. Now there is no barrier, and the Throne of glory as the spiritual center of the Kingdom is open to everyone. In this way, in the form of the Throne, the point in creation where God's will meets the world created by God, determining its being, is revealed to the inhabitants of the Kingdom.
This point is the spiritual center not only of the Kingdom, but of the whole universe. And the King of God's Kingdom becomes the Messiah risen from the dead - now, at last, no longer hidden, but manifest to everyone. And the light of the heavenly Jerusalem is not the physical light of the untransformed world, but the light of God's presence, the very light that permeated the world on the first day of creation. The world regains the fullness of being and is transfigured by the breath of the Kingdom, which has become the center and meaning of its existence.