December 22

Revelation 21:1‑2
“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” —Revelation 21:1, 21And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:1‑2).
IN reading the description of the new Jerusalem, the eternal Home of the heavenly saints, it is important to remember that God is speaking in symbols, as indicated in Revelation 1:1,1The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: (Revelation 1:1) where the word translated “signified” really means, “made it known by symbols.” But it is easy to read these in the light of what is elsewhere revealed in the Word of God.
We have here that city which hath foundations, for which Abraham looked in faith (Heb. 11:1010For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:10)). It is set forth in verse 1 to 7 as it will be for all eternity, when the new heavens and the new earth shall succeed the present temporal conditions. But from verse 9 of chapter 21 Through verse 5 of chapter 22, we see the heavenly city in connection with the millennial kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then the nations will learn war no more. Those will be the days of heaven upon earth, when the holy city, the center of light and blessing, will be the capital of the glorious kingdom over which Christ and His Bride, the Church, will reign in righteousness.
“Press on! Press homeward! One there is beside thee,
Who knows the way—a way Himself hath trod.
Thy hand in His, how safely will He guide thee
The few steps more—and then the rest of God.”
—Lucy A. Bennett.