Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #29 of Revelation chapter 21 and we are going to read Revelation 21:13-17:
On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 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, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
I will stop reading there. We are continuing along and marveling at God’s wonderful description of the holy city Jerusalem, which is comprised of everyone He had ever saved throughout the world’s history – every child of God that we read about in the Bible and every child of God saved after the Bible was completed or at any point in time. They are all included in this description. They are all those God cleansed and made righteous through the Lord Jesus Christ shedding His blood at the foundation of the world.
It is a city with twelve gates and twelve foundations and which had the name of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb, and so forth. We saw in our last study that one of the “seven angels,” which would be a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, has the golden reed to measure the city. The reed relates to the Word of God that is the measuring instrument that God uses for determining the measurement of the elect. It is also the Word of God that saved the elect and made them part of the city.
In our last Bible study we saw in verse 16 that “the city lieth foursquare.” It has “four corners” and this is speaking of the city itself. So if you could somehow view this city on a map, it would be “foresquare.” The city was measured by the Lord Jesus at “12,000 furlongs” and we were told that the length, breadth and height are equal. In the Book of Ezekiel we saw that God spoke of 4,500 measures in the North, South, East and West and then God added them up round about. God did the math and He gave us the number of 48,000 measures. That gives us the authority to add up the furlongs that make up the city and which God says is the measurement of the city. It is 12,000 furlongs and the breadth and length are equal. You could draw a square and label it 12,000 on the top, bottom, left and right and if you multiply that by “4” you would get 48,000 furlongs. If you break it down, it would be “3 x 10 x 1,600.” The number “3” points to purpose and the number “10” points to completeness.
The number “1,600” can be broken down to “40 x 40” and we could look at it that way, but I would like to leave it at “1,600” because it instantly connects us to our present situation, as we realize that from May 21, 2011 until October 7, 2015 is “1,600 days.” And God speaks of it as “1,600 furlongs” in Revelation, chapter 14 where God gives details of Judgment Day which the Bible locked in as May 21, 2011. After a discussion of the final harvest, in the concluding verse the Lord speaks of treading the winepress of the unsaved and their blood comes out of the winepress. The Bible indicates in Leviticus, chapter 17, that the life is in the blood. The blood comes out of the winepress to the space of “1,600 furlongs” and then it ceases to flow. We have understood that to mean “1,600 days” from the beginning of Judgment Day when God began to press the life out of the unsaved people of the earth, spiritually speaking. Life is still in them as they live physically, but their physical lives will come to an end, very likely, on that date of October 7, 2015 and that would be the 10,000th overall day of judgment since judgment began at the house of God on May 21, 1988. In the number “10,000,” we see completeness, so we find that October 7, 2015 has the number “10,000,” which is completeness. It is “10 x 10 x 10 x 10” or “10” to the 4th power, which would indicate the universal completeness of judgment. We also see the number “1,600” or “40 x 40” and that day also concludes on the same day of October 7, 2015. So that day is the “10,000th day” and the “1,600th day” and it would be the day of the completion of God’s salvation program for the city of God. It would be the day that God takes all the elect that are presently living upon the earth (that great multitude) and He lifts them up in the Rapture and they receive their new resurrected spiritual bodies. God will also resurrect all the elect that had died physically and they receive their new resurrected spiritual bodies and then the city of God that we read about in Revelation 21 is completely formed. Remember, that is how this chapter began, as it said in Revelation 21:1:
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away…
Then after God spoke of wiping away all tears and the fact that there would be no more death, He goes into that discussion of heavenly Jerusalem which comes down or takes effect. It goes into actuality on the date that the world passes away and at the time this world ends. At that point the new earth begins and that is when the complete body of Christ, the heavenly city, comes into view in its fullness, so it is not surprising that we find the dimensions of the city measured in furlongs and a breakdown of those furlongs bring us these numbers: “3” which points to the purpose of God; “10” which points to the completeness of what is in view; and “1,600” which points to the day we have been looking at, October 7, 2015.
We are going to move on to Revelation 21:17:
And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
Once again, it says “the measure of a man,” but we know this is one of the seven angels and that God identifies the seven angels in Revelation 15 with being clothed in “pure and white linen.” In Revelation 16 they begin to pour out the vials. These are the true believers. They are the elect that are indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, so He is among them and one of them. We are one in Him and He in us, the Bible tells. He is the one that is moving within the true believers to will and to do of His good pleasure. Therefore, whatever we do, He does, just as we read in the Bible in Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth…good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation,” but we also read an almost identical verse in Romans 10:15, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” It is because Christ works through His people.
Well, here God speaks of one of the seven angels and due to the language we find here it must be Christ because no elect individual has this kind of wisdom and authority and power. It says, “And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits.” Keep in mind that when we see the word “wall” in the Bible God relates it to salvation and that fits with everything we have seen in this chapter. It says in Isaiah 26:1:
In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
We have a strong city. Yes, indeed, it is a strong city. It is a city which cannot be shaken, whose builder and maker is God, as we read in Hebrews 11. Then in Hebrews, chapter 12, it tells us that it is an eternal kingdom that cannot be shaken or removed. And it’s walls are salvation. When we read of cities in the Bible (especially in the Old Testament), there are many battles that involved cities. For example, the walls of Jericho came falling down and it opened up the city for destruction. In the Old Testament and for much of history, the strength of a city depended on the strength of its walls and, especially, the height of the wall. You could have a wall, but if anyone could climb over it, it would not offer much protection. But if you had a strong and high wall like Jericho, you would have protection against your enemies and, yet, there was no protection against the power of God. God caused their walls to fall down after Israel went around that city 13 times.
By the way, spiritually, that helps us to understand the nature of God’s judgment at the end of the world because the number “13” points to “13,000” years and in the 13,000th year of earth’s history God began judgment on the house of God on May 21, 1988. On that day, the day before Pentecost, the Holy Spirit departed out of the midst of the churches and what happened to their “walls”? They fell and Satan entered in because there was no longer any protection for the churches and congregations of the world. The churches lost “salvation” and they no longer had walls of salvation. What happened 23 years later on May 21, 2011? The identical thing happened, so I think there is a dual meaning in passage in the Book of Joshua when the walls fell. It was a picture of judgment on the churches and judgment on the world. They have no “walls” and this has left them open for destruction. Spiritually, that relates to the removal of God’s salvation program.
But when God speaks of new Jerusalem, His holy city, He tells us that the walls are equal to salvation and those walls will stand forever because the promise of God to His people is eternal life. There is eternal salvation and it is our eternal inheritance that God has declared. He cannot lie and He has spoken that promise and it cannot be altered or changed. He is the essence of faithfulness and, therefore, it will come to pass. That means that the walls of His city are as solid as they can be. We have a strong city whose walls are salvation.
According to Revelation 21:17, the measurement of the wall is 144 cubits. It is interesting that God is not speaking of the length or the breadth or the height of the wall. He just says they are 144 cubits and, therefore, we are not sure how to apply that. Is it 144 in width or height? All we know is that it is the number God has assigned to the wall. Of course, we would understand it to be “walls of salvation” because of the gates. As we read of the city, there are 12 gates, with three on each point of the compass on the North, South, East and West. If you have gates, you have to attach them to walls. There would be no sense in having a gate to the city if there were no walls. Since the gates are on four sides and the city lieth foursquare, I think it would be fine to say it has walls round about. The wall (singular) is 144 cubits and also the “walls” would each be 144 cubits and that would give us a total of 576 cubits. That breaks down to “2 x 2 x 12 x 12.” It does not show us anything we have not seen already, but we know the number “144” breaks down to “12 x 12,” and “12” points to fullness, so this is super fullness. God has used the number “144” a couple of times earlier in the Book of Revelation. Speaking of sealing of God’s elect in their foreheads (which identifies with salvation), it says Revelation 7:4:
And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
It goes on to tell us that there were 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes. And then it said, “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude,” and we have understood correctly that the 144,000 of the twelve tribes (12 x 12,000) pictured all those God had saved during the church age. This was confirmed in Revelation 14:1:
And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
This was similar to what Revelation 7 said about them being sealed in their foreheads. Then it says in Revelation 14:3-4:
And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
The word “firstfruits” is the key identification that God applies to the 144,000. They are the firstfruits. We have discussed this before, so we will not go into it, but God speaks of the early rain that began to fall on Pentecost in 33AD and continued to fall for 1,955 years until the day before Pentecost on May 21, 1988. Then the church age ended and the early rain ended and the firstfruits had been saved. The 144,000 points to the completeness of the fullness of believers saved out of the church age.
Going back to Revelation, chapter 7, it said that after that he saw a great multitude and that would be God’s elect that were saved during the second part of the Great Tribulation when the Latter Rain began to fall, but in Revelation 21, we do not read of 144,000, but we read of 144 cubits. The 144,000 is the number assigned to the firstfruits only, as “12 x 12” points to the completeness of all those saved during the church age. But, here the “wall” is salvation and it is pointing to the fullness of all those God has saved because they are the ones in view in this chapter. It is the number the Bible uses for completeness or fullness. There were 12 tribes of Israel. There were 12 Apostles. God can also use multiples of “12,” like 24 elders or 144 cubits. It includes all the Old Testament saints and all the New Testament saints – everyone that has ever been saved has come together in the wall of salvation.