NEW JERUSALEM, ̔Ιερουσαλὴ̀μ καινή. It is the ultimate center where the glorified redeemed of all ages dwell eternally with God and His holy angels in perfect bliss after all aspects of resurrection and judgment and the creation of a new heaven and earth.

It is called “the new Jerusalem” (Rev 3:12; 21:2), “holy city” (21:2), “great” (21:10), “heavenly” (Heb 12:22), “above” (Gal 4:26), and the “wife of the Lamb” (Rev 21:9). It is the city Abraham sought (Heb 11:10) and believers today anticipate (13:14). “Heavenly” emphasizes its heavenly origin and quality in contrast to earthly. “New” contrasts it with “old” Jerusalem since it is the glorious goal of which that city is a type. “Holy” is its character as over against the often unholy Jerusalem and the unholy Babylon (Rev 17; 18). It is the “bride” in that redeemed inhabitants comprise it corporately as a city. It is “mother” of believers in that they live by its life from above, are ruled by its standards, and have their citizenship in heaven (Phil 3:20). Similarly, Jerusalem or Judah was “mother” of Israelites since their lives and interests were oriented there (Isa 50:1; Ezek 19:2; Hosea 2:2; 4:5).

The city should not be understood as only symbolic of the redeemed. It is distinguished from them (Rev 21:24-27; 22:2-5). Also, if the King (Christ) and redeemed have literal substance in glorified bodies, the city most likely is literal. Further, the new heaven and earth are evidently as literal as the old, and this would naturally be true also of the New Jerusalem. Descriptions of size and other matters also suggest this.

The size of the city as given in Revelation 21 totals 1,342 m. in length, breadth, and height (round number 1,500). Scholars debate its shape, cube or pyramid. Only the redeemed, all of whom are overcomers by faith (1 John 5:4, 5; Rev 21:7), are there. It is made of precious stones. The streets are gold and, since God makes all things new (21:5), it is irrelevant to object that gold is a poor paving substance. Names of the twelve tribes on the gates and twelve apostles on the foundations represent both Israel and the Church as present. Kings bring glory and honor into the city (21:24), evidently in the sense that they render the glory they had to Christ or else they share in His glory and reflect it in their individuality and to their capacity. All conditions there are ultimate.

The OT anticipates “new heavens and a new earth” (Isa 65:17; 66:22) but nowhere has it the specific phrase “new Jerusalem.” It speaks, however, of a glorious Jerusalem (Isa 52:1; 54:11, 12; 62:5, 7). Amillennialists equate this with Revelation 21; 22. Premillennialists usually see a glorified millennial Jerusalem between the second advent and ultimate state, pointing to other passages also (Jer 31:40; 33:16; Micah 4:1-4; Zech 14).

Where does the new Jerusalem fit timewise? Some place it immediately after Christ’s return, viewing the thousand years (Rev 20) as symbolic of the present age (amillennialists). Others see this age progressing into a golden era before Christ comes (postmillennialists). Most premillennialists see the sequence as: Second Coming, thousand year rule of Christ on earth, judgment on Satan, great white throne judgment, new heaven and earth with new Jerusalem. In this latter group, some believe that the new Jerusalem described in 21:9-22:5 is the millennial city on earth. Others have it suspended in close proximity to earthly Jerusalem during the millennium as the habitation for resurrected saints who already have entered into their eternal state, but have access to earth to rule with Christ. Still others say that the new Jerusalem conceived of here is just as it is in 21:1-8, after creation of new heaven and earth. Conditions described have the ultimate, eternal bliss in view. See J. D. Pentecost, Things to Come, for reasoning behind all views.

Bibliography G. N. H. Peters, The Theocratic Kingdom, III (1952), 32ff.; J. D. Pentecost, Things To Come (1956); R. C. H. Lenski, Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation (1957); J. F. Walvoord, The Millennial Kingdom (1959); E. Sauer, Triumph of the Crucified (1960); J. O. Buswell, Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion, II (1963), 434-538; J. F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (1966); W. Hendriksen, More Than Conquerors (1967); A. J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom (1968), 442-515.