Revelation 21:12 Commentary and Bible Study

There is a great wall and high. Why a wall? There is nothing evil to fear any longer. There are no wild beasts; there is nothing to attack us. There were no demons of darkness; they have all gone. There is no devil. Why a wall? Not so much for protection – though that is true during her earthly pilgrimage (Psalm 48:12-13) – but as a symbol of eternal preservation and of salvation (Isaiah 60:18). The wall here stands not for ‘you are in danger and you need protection’; it stands as a symbol of everlasting maintenance. This city is going to last forever. It is secure. The Lord fills her with a wonderful sense of safety, which comes knowing that God has undertaken her eternal preservation.It has twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, just as in Ezekiel’s corresponding vision (Ezekiel 48:30-34). The idea is that this is a city into which believers have entered. They have gone to heaven. There are gates on every side, three gates on the north, three on the south, the east, and three on the west, probably signifying that the church has been drawn from every land and nation. There are angels at every gate, probably signifying that only those souls are let in who are truly the Lord's and born-again. Here are on earth unbelievers can get in among us and disappoint us, because we do not have divine discernment, and if they seem to have a credible profession of faith and a testimony, we might sometimes let in people who are unsaved, but not in glory. So the wall and the and the gates and the angels at the gates indicates the sifting and the purity. At the same time, the naming of the gates makes clear, as Christ has said, that ‘salvation is of the Jews’ (John 4:22). Even here in eternity, the names of the twelve tribes are prominent. Israel was not an unsuccessful experiment that God had to abandon. It will have accomplished all that he ever intended it to accomplish. Israel is the natural olive tree and the foundation of the salvation of the Gentiles. How so? Because through this nation, God gave mankind the moral law, which defines the only standard of righteousness acceptable to God. They were given the ceremonial law by which the whole plan of redemption was prefigured in earthly terms. To them were made the promises that the Messiah would come and the details prophesied of his lineage and circumstances. Their history was filled with types of his person. From Jerusalem the good news of salvation went out into all the world. Some did not profit from these advantages but the elect, the true Israel, did. Through Israel the rest of the world has heard the gospel, therefore the way into this glorious city is through gates named after each of the twelve tribes. Their significant place in the plan of salvation will be remembered forever.