Revelation 21:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

NIV: The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

NASB: And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

CSB: The city wall had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb were on the foundations.

NLT: The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

KJV: And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

NKJV: Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The wall of the New Jerusalem has twelve foundations on which the names of the twelve apostles are inscribed. The inscriptions are appropriate, because the church is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:20). When Jesus arose from the grave, He commissioned His apostles to proclaim the gospel worldwide. Wherever the apostles went, they declared that Jesus died, arose from the dead, and is coming again. Churches sprang up mainly because the apostles were faithful to the commission Jesus had given them.

The fact that the New Jerusalem displays both the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:12) and the names of the twelve apostles shows two things. First, God distinguishes between Israel and the church, and second, both Old Testament believers and New Testament believers occupy New Jerusalem. God's grace avails for all who believe on His Son as their Savior.

Most likely, the twelve names here correspond to the original twelve apostles as established after the ascension of Jesus: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alpheus, Simon, Judas son of James and Matthias (Acts 1:12–14; 1:26).

Revelation 21:9–27 presents a description of the New Jerusalem. Interpreters disagree about whether this is a flashback to the millennial reign of Christ, or a description of the eternal state of the city. A flashback is not unprecedented in Revelation, occurring in chapters 11, 14, 15, and 17. However, some verses here clearly refer to eternal conditions, and most scholars take this as a depiction of the eternal, final heavenly city.

This chapter focuses on the New Jerusalem. This is not the earthly, historic Jerusalem of the tribulation (Revelation 11:2, 8). Nor is it the surviving Jerusalem of the millennium that serves as Jesus' capital (Revelation 20:9). It is the heavenly city referred to in Hebrews 12:22, whose designer and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10, 16). John attempts to describe the indescribable using analogies to precious gems and metals.

Leading up to this chapter, all sin and evil have been entirely defeated. Satan is banished to hell, along with every person who rejected Christ, as seen in chapter 20. Here, John describes the nature of the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city which descends onto earth after the ultimate victory over evil. Chapter 22 is a further description of this perfect eternity, and last messages from Jesus to those who read John's words.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''