‘And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it.’ That happens even now in this gospel age, this church age. People who are saved, wherever they are in the world, of any ethnic group and nation, are walking in the light of the new Jerusalem. We have seen it in a measure; we believe it; we understand that it's coming. ‘And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.’ That too is happening now. Kings who would like to rule over their people totally if they could. Down the centuries kings have subscribed to different religious systems, different religious outlooks, and they wanted the whole nation to conform. But the truly saved people of God haven’t necessarily conformed, so that the kings have had to yield them up because their hearts are for the Lord, even if persecuted. In that way the glory and honour of those nations is brought in to the church, not because of any value that they possess, but because they are God's people. They have been forgiven, and given spiritual life, and they are sons and daughters the most high, precious to Almighty God. There are people who are being saved. It doesn't matter how simple or how uneducated they may be, in God’s eyes they are the glory and honour of that nation. So this isn’t just prophecy about the very last day; it's about the whole of the age and the church of Christ. If it was only about the heavenly Jerusalem, why would the gates on every side be open night and day? It is because it's also a picture of the people of God throughout the gospel age, and the gospel doors of that kingdom, whichever way they face to any land and nation, are ever open to returning sinners. But now the gates remain open for a new reason. Gates of cities were normally closed at night or when the people felt they were under threat. Open gates witnessed to a sense of security. Now that every enemy has been removed, it is safe to leave the gates wide open. The fact that the gates will never be closed is stressed by the use of a strong double negative construction in Greek. This situation will never change.
This wonderful picture of the enrichment of the church comes from Isaiah 60. There it is expanded on in great detail. He prophesies about a spiritual kingdom of God, not an earthly kingdom. Does the church heap up riches on earth? No. And yet men may use even the mammon of unrighteousness for spiritual good. For everything that is given to Christ and for the advance of his kingdom will be repaid again in full. Not that God will give back to his people in kind, returning earthly riches to them which have no currency in heaven. But he will give them something far greater and their gifts will be recognised.