Rev 21:2-3 “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.’ ”
What a truly magnificent sight to John as he witnessed the holy city coming down from heaven like a bride adorned for her husband. She is called the New Jerusalem and verse 3 calls her “the tabernacle of God that is with men.” Notice that this New Jerusalem is not heaven but comes down from heaven. In the book of Hebrews, the writer discusses the true tabernacle, Heb 8:2 “a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.” This is a spiritual tabernacle built by the Lord. Notice Heb. 9:11, “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.” Now let us consider the prophecy of Daniel 2:34-35, “You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Notice the stone was cut out without human hands and would become a mountain consuming the earth. In Dan. 2:44, “the stone is identified as the kingdom of God that shall stand forever.” The tabernacle, New Jerusalem, and the kingdom are one in the same. They are all the same creation of the Lord coming down from heaven. We understand through prophecy and it’s fulfillment that the church is the same as the tabernacle, the kingdom and New Jerusalem. When the Holy Spirit sought a suitable illustration of the relationship between husband and wife, He used Christ and the church. Read the comparison in Eph. 5:23 “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.” Now read v. 25, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,” Notice the intimate relationship between Christ and the church compared to the husband and wife. Now consider the holy city, the New Jerusalem. This is a city much different than the old city. She comes down from heaven so her origin is from God. The Hebrew writer wrote, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,” Heb. 12:22. Is there any doubt of the spiritual nature of this Jerusalem? “…“Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” Rev. 21:9-10. It is just beautiful how the entire picture comes together in one thought that the church is the “Bride of Christ” adorned for her husband, Jesus. How can anyone who claims to be a student of God’s Word deny the relationship between Christ and His bride, the church?