Revelation 21:22 Commentary and Bible Study

John looks with the greatest interest at the layout of the city. Though it has such immense proportions, in the vision he is able to see every part of it from where he is positioned; we have already been told that its materials are transparent. Thinking of the earthly Jerusalem with which he is familiar, he searches for that building of central importance which he naturally expects to find in a prominent position. How large will it be? How will the architecture of the city be arranged to draw attention to its central importance? The temple was the place where God dwelt with his people. Surely the temple in the New Jerusalem will be especially magnificent for worship will be the prime activity of the saints in eternity. But strangely he finds that there is no temple to be found. Because he can see the whole city, he is certain of this. Is this an omission? He cannot believe this. God makes no mistakes in his workmanship. What is the meaning of this? The answer is deeply instructive. There is no temple not because worship is absent from heaven but because worship is present everywhere. The temple has not been removed; it has been expanded. What after all was the temple in the earthly Jerusalem? It was the place where God met with his people and where they were instructed to worship him. It was the only place where Israel offered up sacrifices to the Lord. Inside it was the altar where only the Levites could serve and in the centre was the holy of holies separated by a veil which the high priest alone could enter and that but once a year. The temple therefore communicated exclusion and limited access. The holy of holies was fenced off by this series of boundaries beyond which only the privileged could go. When Israelites left the precincts of the temple and returned to their own homes, even if they lived in Jerusalem itself, they were no longer in the place where God had promised to meet with his people. But when the Lord Jesus offered himself up on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn in two, symbolizing the opening of access into the most holy place. The temple is replaced with something vastly superior as men are given direct access to God. But what is this new temple? It is the Lord God Almighty but it is also the Lamb. Because God dwells among his people directly, they have no need of a temple. But what has replaced the temple according to this verse is also the Lamb. The Lamb is the object of our worship alongside God the Father.