The Book of revelation 21:10-22:6
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
12 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.
13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.
14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls.
16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide.
He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.
17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick.
18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.
19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.
21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl.
The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.
26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city.
On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
6 And the angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true…
The Measurments of the Holy City – Heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 21:16)
Twelve thousand furlongs = 1,400 miles (2,200 km).
It is not clear if that measurement is of each side of the city or of all four sides combined.
Physical dimensions of the New Jerusalem suggested by Uriah Smith:
- Total Perimeter: 12,000 stadia = 2,220 km around the entire base.
- Length & Breadth: 3,000 stadia per side = 555 km long and 555 km wide (roughly the distance from London to Scotland).
- Height: Equal to length = 555 km high (reaching far into the Earth’s thermosphere).
- Wall Thickness/Height: 144 cubits = 65 meters (approx. 213 feet high).
The only other structure where the length, breadth, and height are perfectly identical is the Most Holy Place inside the earthly sanctuary (20 times 20 times 20 cubits).
Therefore, the New Jerusalem is a giant, macrocosmic Most Holy Place.
While the ancient High Priest could only enter the sacred cube once a year with trembling, the entire redeemed host will live permanently inside this 555 km cube, experiencing face-to-face communion with God.
Mansions Upon Mansions: Smith argued that this divine architecture easily solves the problem of crowding. It allows for multi-dimensional layers of glorious, transparent golden mansions—providing more than enough literal room to house the billions of redeemed from all history comfortably.
Ellen White continuously stressed that the city has real soil, real architecture, and real dimensions. God provided these massive measurements to guarantee there is a literal, physical home prepared for every believer.
The city creates a volume of over 170 million cubic kilometers.
There is a massive contrast between the 555 km height of the city and its 65-meter wall. A 65-meter wall provides zero physical protection for a structure that towers 555 kilometers into space. Furthermore, the gates never close. Its jasper (diamond) stones stand as a beautiful, glowing, symbolic boundary line.
The 144 cubits directly mirror the 144,000, standing as an eternal monument to God’s sealed, protected, and fully vindicated people.