BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Revelation 21 — A New Heaven, New Earth, and the New Jerusalem
Revelation 21 presents John's vision of a renewed creation in which God dwells with His people, every tear is wiped away, and the holy city descends from heaven adorned as a bride.
Scripture
1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.
2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God:
4and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.
5And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true.
6And he said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.
9And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were laden with the seven last plagues; and he spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11having the glory of God: her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal:
12having a wall great and high; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
13on the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16And the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs: the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal.
17And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
18And the building of the wall thereof was jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass.
19The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
20the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the several gates was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof.
23And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb.
24And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it.
25And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there):
26and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it:
27and there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb's book of life.
What this passage means
Verses 1–8 announce the cosmic renewal: the first heaven and earth pass away, the sea is no more, and the holy city comes down from God prepared as a bride. The voice from the throne declares that God's dwelling (σκηνή) is with humanity, that death, mourning, crying, and pain have ceased, and that the One seated on the throne is making all things new (Rev 21:1-5).
Verses 9–21 then describe the New Jerusalem itself. An angel carrying one of the seven last plagues shows John the city descending with the glory of God; it has a high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the tribes of Israel, twelve foundations bearing the apostles' names, and dimensions of 12,000 stadia with a wall 144 cubits. The construction is of jasper, pure gold like glass, and twelve precious stones, with pearls for gates and a street of transparent gold (Rev 21:9-21).
Verses 22–27 explain the city's character. There is no temple because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple; the city needs no sun or moon because the glory of God lights it and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations walk in its light, yet nothing unclean enters—only those written in the Lamb's book of life (Rev 21:22-27).
Context
The chapter opens with a vision formula (eἶδον) marking a new prophetic scene, after the bowl judgments of the preceding chapters. The seven bowls held by the angels (Rev 21:9) identify the guiding angel as belonging to the same series of final plagues described earlier in Revelation. The designation 'Lamb' anchors the vision in the earlier Christological imagery of the book, where the Lamb is the one who was slain and now shares the throne.
The text also ties new-creation language back to Isaiah's promises, and the beatitude 'he that overcometh shall inherit' (Rev 21:7) echoes the statements to the seven churches that the overcomer will receive eschatological reward.
Key words in the original
- G3772 οὐρανόν (ouranos) — the sky or heaven; in Revelation 21:1 it denotes the realm of God's throne from which the holy city descends, consistent with the book's usage of heaven as the divine dwelling place.
- G2281 θάλασσα (thalassa) — the sea. In Rev 21:1 the disappearance of the sea signals the removal of the first creation's chaotic element, since the sea is also identified symbolically elsewhere in the book.
- G4172 πόλιν (polis) — a city, properly one with walls. In Rev 21:2 the holy city is described as a walled urban entity, underscoring that the New Jerusalem is depicted with civic and architectural imagery rather than as a featureless realm.
Related verses
- Isaiah 65:17 Isaiah 65:17 announces God's creation of new heavens and a new earth; Revelation 21:1 echoes this exact language as John describes the first heaven and earth passing away.
- Isaiah 25:8 Isaiah 25:8 promises the swallowing up of death and the wiping of tears from all faces; Rev 21:4 cites the same acts — death no more, and every tear wiped from their eyes — as now fulfilled in the vision.
- Revelation 7:17 Revelation 7:17 already anticipates the consolation of the final vision by saying the Lamb will guide them to fountains of waters of life and wipe away every tear; Rev 21:4 presents the full arrival of that promise.
Common questions
What is the main message of Revelation 21?
The chapter announces the renewed creation in which God dwells with His people. It describes the passing of the first heaven and earth, the descent of the holy city New Jerusalem prepared as a bride, the removal of death and sorrow, and the declaration that the One on the throne is making all things new (Rev 21:1-5).
Why is there no temple in the New Jerusalem according to Revelation 21?
Revelation 21:22 states that John saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb themselves are its temple. Because God's presence fills the entire city, a separate sanctuary building is no longer needed.
Who is allowed to enter the New Jerusalem?
Revelation 21:27 says that nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination or falsehood may enter, but only those written in the Lamb's book of life. The kings of the nations bring their glory into it, yet the unrighteous are excluded.