Revelation 21:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—

NIV: It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

NASB: It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.

CSB: The city had a massive high wall, with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the twelve tribes of Israel's sons were inscribed on the gates.

NLT: The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates.

KJV: And had a wall great and high, and had 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:

NKJV: Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

The New Jerusalem is secure. Nothing and no one except what is righteous is allowed to enter (Revelation 21:27). A massive high wall with twelve gates surrounds the city. Twelve angels guard the gates. The gates serve not only to symbolize security, but they also serve as memorials. The names of the twelve tribes of Israel are inscribed on the gates.

Walls and gates were used in Bible times to fortify cities. Wooden or iron gates closed at night to keep out enemy soldiers and/or plunderers. Inside the cities were narrow streets and courtyards. Buildings stood around the courtyards. Of course, enemies were known to scale the walls and crash the gates. When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, the city's walls were left in ruins. It became Nehemiah's mission to return from captivity to lead a delegation in the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls (Nehemiah 1). The wall of the New Jerusalem will never fall, and its gates will never be breached.

This, of course, is meant as a highly symbolic gesture. In eternity, there won't be any wickedness or unrighteousness to be protected from. Nor will there be any evil, danger, or harm from which to be protected. The existence of these walls, and gates, serve as real-but-symbolic emblems proclaiming the safety and security of those living in New Jerusalem.

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.''