New Jerusalem is not a physical city
Many believers are waiting for a city to come down from heaven as per Revelation 21, however, there are no buildings in heaven. We need to realize that the city called the “new Jerusalem” or the “Kingdom of Heaven” is spiritual and not of a physical nature, whether made from bricks, mortar, or gold. Jesus told His disciples that they were the light of the world, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden in Matthew 5:14. In other words, the disciples reflected the light of the gospel as a city (group of believers) that shines its light on a hill, ie: it attracts people from far and wide and is thus not hidden from public view because believers are meant to preach the gospel. They were the authors of the gospel and thus represented the foundations of the Christian church, or the “building coming down from heaven”, which is not a physical building but the body of Christ (all believers) as the futuristic perfected bride of Christ, or the city called the “new Jerusalem”, which will be fully manifest in our environment when the Holy Spirit ushers in the Kingdom of Heaven into the new Heaven and Earth where righteousness dwells. The building coming down from Heaven correlates to Jesus bringing (appearing) with Him the dead in Christ, and those that are alive getting caught up with Him in the clouds (Kingdom of Heaven), see 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.
Even today we can say that the body of Christ, although scattered across the globe in a corrupt Heaven and Earth, is the “new Jerusalem” or the “Kingdom of Heaven” if we remain in the faith and in Christ. God protects those who are His and therefore we remain within the city, whilst unbelievers remain outside the city or protection of God, see Revelation 22:14-15. This also pertains to when the Kingdom of Heaven is ushered in at the reappearance of Jesus Christ in the new Heaven and Earth.
The temple reflects Christ
To understand this we need to see the aspects of Jesus in the temple, also the purpose of the patriarchs and the apostles, and then apply it to Revelation 21. We also need to understand the meaning of gold to understand why the building and street were made of gold. We also need to understand that the Kingdom of God is in the believer and that the Kingdom of Heaven (new Jerusalem or the bride of Christ) is a group of believers or the body of Christ, and both these kingdoms are essentially the Holy Spirit manifest within the believer and in our environment, see Understanding the Kingdom of God and of Heaven.
Jesus said, “Break down this temple and I will raise it in three days” (John 2:19-21), but He was speaking about His body which would be glorified after His death, burial, and resurrection. In other words, Jesus is the temple that replaced the temple of Solomon and believers followed suit. The dimensions of the Most Holy Place form a cube which represents perfection in the spirit and therefore represents the spirit of Christ which is perfect, and all believers will be perfected when Jesus reappears to change our vile bodies (Philippians 3:20-21). At the moment we do not know what we will be like but will do so when He appears because we will be like Him (1 John 2:1-3) because He will appear for salvation and not sin, (Hebrews 9:27-28).
The inside of the temple was overlaid with gold representing divinity and holiness as per God’s qualities. In likewise manner, though speaking for the body of Christ as opposed to one believer, Revelation 21 is clear in that the city coming (appearing) from heaven in the form of a cube represents the perfected bride of Christ. In other words, in the new Heaven and Earth, Jesus will have transformed our bodies into glorious bodies (Philippians 3:20-21) or “the new Jerusalem”, because we are like a city (Matthew 5:14) enveloped within and without by the Holy Spirit (Zechariah 2:4-5), not a new physical city coming down from heaven as most preach. We also see that the new Heaven and Earth in verse 1 has no sea because the nations are all part of the Kingdom of Heaven as ONE in Christ where there will be no more tears. The sea often represents the people of the nations in scripture.
The twelve gates
The 12 gates in the walls around the city represent the 12 tribes of Israel who were the patriarchs whom God chose to begin His salvation roadmap so that they could disciple the rest of the world with the oracles of God. We therefore enter through the gates, representing the patriarchs, into the Kingdom of God/Heaven (city of new Jerusalem) which includes all peoples and tongues because God took away the partition between Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14) making them one people in Christ. The 12 gates were made of pearls which represent the patriarchs (God’s treasure) from whom came the scriptures because the oracles belong to the Jews, as Paul states in Romans 3:1-2. However, the patriarchs never found the city they were looking for, and therefore they are the gates or entrance into God’s Kingdom because they had the oracles of God, but the apostles through Jesus Christ built the house itself, Hebrew 3:3-7.
The twelve foundations and the spiritual house
Did the apostles build a physical house/building? No, believers are the building, a spiritual house, and each believer is referred to as a living stone, where each of us plays a role in the building of the spiritual house with Jesus as the cornerstone, see 1 Peter 2:1-10. Did not God say in Revelation 2:17, “To those that overcome, He will give them a white stone with a new name”? When we arrive in the kingdom of Heaven at the reappearance of Jesus we will have our names changed, possibly with the title of our function or even “son”, but that is just a guess.
The 12 precious stones in the foundation of the city, however, represent the 12 apostles of Jesus because they are the foundation of the city (believers) in the Christian faith and the scriptures through Jesus Christ. The breastplate worn by the high priest over the heart, although representing the tribes of Israel, was prophetic of a futuristic time when a true Jew would be circumcised in the heart as opposed to the flesh, and receive the guidance of God by the spirit as opposed to the Urim and Thummim. The building and streets are pure gold, as clear as glass, representing the fact that believers will walk in transparency and divinity or holiness (clear gold). Therefore the city is not a physical building with streets because we already established that God is building a spiritual house using believers as the building blocks or “stones” in 1 Peter 2:1-10. When people have dreams or visions of going to heaven they are not seeing the buildings in heaven, but rather, a symbolic picture of what God wants to make them understand, as was the case with myself when I was caught up in the spirit, where God showed me how He wanted me to read the bible and to open up my mind to the scriptures.
The size of the city (believers) being 144 cubits is reflective of the 144,000 virgins in Revelation 7 where the latter is multiplied by a thousand and therefore includes all the tribes and people of the world, ie: the number 12 represents completeness and when it is multiplied by itself (12 x 12 = 144), it represents the fact that the twelves tribes were to disperse the gospel to include all the tribes or nations, and 1,000 represents every individual that believes. A 1,000 represents all objects, time, or people as reflected in the scripture when God said that He is the God of 1,000 hills. Are there only 1,000 hills? No, therefore 1,000 refers to the complete set or all the hills. When God binds Satan for 1,000 years, it does not necessarily mean 1,000 years, but rather, whatever time will be required before He lets him loose again.
The 1444,000 virgins
The 144,000 virgins are not men who have not had sex with women, otherwise, God’s message of the Gospel becomes legalistic, because the law is about sacrifice and not mercy, which comes against God’s own words (Hosea 6:6) and against the principles of Christ and Paul’s teachings. Therefore, the 12 virgins represent those Jews and Gentiles who have washed their clothes (Revelation 7:14) by believing in Jesus and have become pure in faith. Washing their clothes represents that they confessed their sins, repented, and continued in the faith of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
Why is the cube a symbol of perfection?
Perfect Cube: Definition. If a number can be decomposed into a product of the same three integers, it is known as a perfect cube. In other words, if the cube root of a number is an integer, then the number can be considered a perfect cube.
However, in scripture, perfection is based on the passion of Jesus Christ to save mankind from everlasting damnation. Therefore if we take a cube that represents perfection in the spirit (Most Holy place) in the new Jerusalem (Kingdom of Heaven on Earth) and cut it up along the edges, along the 90-degree folds, not allowing complete separation of any of the squares, and lay it flat on a table without any loose pieces, we either get a T or a +, where the bottom part of the + is double the length. Either of these represents the cross of Jesus Christ and the double-sided six squares represent the 12 apostles. I believe God used the cube because He knew man would consider it perfect in geometry, and that the cross would be identified by cutting the pieces without separating them. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice as He was without blemish.