SUBJECT:  New Jerusalem

QUESTION:  Do you have any descriptions of the New Jerusalem?  I heard that it will be 1,500 miles high, wide and long.  How could it fit on this earth?

ANSWER:

First the verses:

Revelation 21:1-2
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 21:14-17
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

Yes, you are correct about the size of New Jerusalem being 1,500 miles long, wide and high.  I believe the key is in Revelation 21:1...

Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

I suspect, based on the size of New Jerusalem that we read of beginning in verse 2, that the new Earth could be larger.  We do know that the oceans will be removed and the land will be reconfigured.  Regardless, prophesy only gives us the basic facts so we will know what is happening AS it happens.  It is probably enough for us to know that all things will be new and the details will all make sense then.

Having said that. I believe that the earth will be larger to accommodate a structure of this size.

Regarding your question about whether it exists now.  I venture to guess that it is.  Verse 2 gives the idea that this is something that God has worked with for some time.

Do not have any specific documents on the New Jerusalem, as we normally deal with the more urgent subjects of Salvation and the gospel so that everyone can be there to see it come down out of the heavens to earth.

I did a quick search on the Internet and found a couple of excerpts about the size of the city:

Excerpt 1:

"The New Jerusalem is depicted as being 1500 miles long and wide. We also read that "its length, breadth, and height are equal." Many Bible students believe these numbers should be taken symbolically and that the city, cubical in form, resembles the shape of the holy of holies in the tabernacle and temple. There seems to be no good reason, however, to depart from the literal acceptance of the dimensions of the holy city.

Even if we take the numbers literally, though, we cannot speak with absolute certainty about its height. But if the phrase "length, breadth, and height are equal" means that the city is actually 1500 miles high as well as wide and long, we still cannot be sure that we should take this as depicting the shape of a perfect cube or of a pyramid going up 1500 miles. Some Bible students believe that the word equal in this context simply means that it will be square, and that in height it will be level.

Whether we accept the city as existing in the form of a cube, a pyramid, or a perfectly level square makes very little difference. In either case the size is most amazing. At the ground level it covers more area than India, and if placed in the United States, it would reach from the tip of Maine to the tip of Florida, and from the shore of the Atlantic Ocean westward to Denver. What a city that will be! It will rise up from the earth on 12 foundations of precious jewels and will glow with perpetual light as it reflects the glory of God and shines out through its jasper walls. What beauty! What immensity! No need for anyone to worry about whether or not there will be room for the redeemed!"

Excerpt 2:

“THE BASE OF THIS GOLDEN "CITY" IS LARGER THAN MOST OF THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD TODAY!--1500 miles (2,400 kilometers) long by 1500 miles wide! This incredible pyramid-shaped structure is as high as it is long, thus its peak extends 1500 miles upward, reaching clear into Space!--This is 275 times higher than the World's tallest mountain, Mt. Everest!”

This site then speculates about the first floor of this structure:

“But most of the 2,250,000 square miles (5,760,000 square kilometers!) of the City's base is beautiful heavenly gardens, parks, woodlands & rolling countryside, more beautiful than any in the World today!”

Excerpt 3:

The angel measured the length of the city 12000 furlongs long, which is about 1500 Roman miles, or about 1400 English miles which amounts to about 2.200 KM! But that is just one side of it. And as its surface is a (four)square, it has four sides that long, altogether about 8.800 KM around! That's as big as Europe! THAT IS A GIANT CITY! HUMONGOUS!!
But, it also says that the length and the width AND THE HEIGHT of it are equal! So it is not some flat city... but it goes up 2.200 KM as well! Now you can imagine that anyway you want, like a big cube or something, but we are inclined to believe that it looks more like a tent as it said, or a mountain, "the mountain of the Lords house!" So it might very well look like a gigantic pyramid, sticking 2.200 KM out of the earth's atmosphere which goes up only about 16 KM!

Editor’s Note:  The Earth's atmosphere is about 300 miles (480 km) thick, but most of the atmosphere (about 80%) is within 10 miles (16 km) of the surface of the Earth. There is no exact place where the atmosphere ends; it just gets thinner and thinner, until it merges with outer space.

Excerpt 4:

It will be a perfect city from God.

1) Abraham looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. cf Heb. 11:10

2) Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you."

3) It is perfectly symmetrical "the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal"

4) 2,250,000 square miles and 1500 miles high!

5) The world as we know it now, combining the areas of the seven continents equals 57,609,000 square miles.

6) The area of the New Jerusalem will be over 60 times that amount!

7) There will be no shortage on space! "In my father's house there are many mansions".

8) It will be perfect, because the perfect Architect designed and built it!

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