.... for heaven in the Bible?
That’s right! We serve such a wonderful, loving God that He not only provides directions about how to get to heaven, and He also left a painstaking description of it so that we will recognize it when we arrive.
Interestingly, while there are over 400 references to heaven in the Bible, only a handful of those verses tell us anything about it. In fact, we have to wait until the last book – Revelation – before we get any real description about this magnificent city where Jesus said He was going to “prepare a place” for us. (John 14:2)
Here’s the Apostle John’s description:
The glory of God made the city bright. It was dazzling and crystal clear like a precious jasper stone. The city had a high and thick wall with twelve gates, and each one of them was guarded by an angel. On each of the gates was written the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Three of these gates were on the east, three were on the north, three more were on the south, and the other three were on the west.
The city was built on twelve foundation stones.
On each of the stones was written the name of one of the Lamb's twelve apostles.
The angel who spoke to me had a gold measuring stick to measure the city and its gates and its walls. The city was shaped like a cube, because it was just as high as it was wide. When the angel measured the city, it was about fifteen hundred miles high and fifteen hundred miles wide. Then the angel measured the wall, and by our measurements it was about two hundred sixteen feet high.
The wall was built of jasper, and the city was made of pure gold, clear as crystal. Each of the twelve foundations was a precious stone. The first was jasper, the second was sapphire, the third was agate, the fourth was emerald, the fifth was onyx, the sixth was carnelian, the seventh was chrysolite, the eighth was beryl, the ninth was topaz, the tenth was chrysoprase, the eleventh was jacinth, and the twelfth was amethyst. Each of the twelve gates was a solid pearl. The streets of the city were made of pure gold, clear as crystal. (Revelation 21:11-21)
So heaven is a cube that stretches 1,500 miles in all directions.
It’s hard to imagine, but if New Jerusalem were located in the United States,
it would extend from the northernmost tip of Maine to the southernmost point of Florida,
and would reach from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Colorado River.
But that’s only the measurement at the first level. The Bible says that the City is as high as it is wide. Think about it. The former Sears Tower in Chicago stands a quarter of a mile tall. However, it pales in comparison to heaven which is 1,500 miles high.
The jasper walls surrounding the first level are 1½ mile high. That is higher than any church steeple anywhere in the world. And all of its twelve gates are made of solid pearl.
Heaven contains 3⅓ billion cubic miles. Did you know that if half of heaven were taken up by its golden streets, there would still be enough room for nine quadrillion rooms 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high!
There are a couple of other interesting points about heaven that are brought out in Revelation 21. The city has no need of sun or moon, since the glory of God and the light of the Lamb are present. And the gates never close because its inhabitants have nothing to fear. In fact, no evil can enter through its gates. Instead, only those whose names are entered in the Lamb’s Book of Life have a ticket to heaven. (Revelation 21:23, 25, 27)
Frankly, God doesn’t spend a lot of time describing heaven because what it looks like is just not as important as how to get there. That’s why Jesus said, “You know the way to the place where I am going…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:4, 6)
I’m grateful that heaven is not a Motel Six, but I sure am glad that God left
“The Light” on so we can all find it.
Footnotes: (this is from Bible Gateway)
Revelation 21:19 jasper: The precious and semi-precious stones mentioned in verses 19, 20 are of different colors. Jasper is usually green or clear; sapphire is blue; agate has circles of brown and white; emerald is green; onyx has different bands of color; carnelian is deep-red or reddish-white; chrysolite is olive-green; beryl is green or bluish-green; topaz is yellow; chrysoprase is apple-green; jacinth is reddish-orange; and amethyst is deep purple.
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