We were dealing with the details of the New Jerusalem and we had just started with the measurements of the city. I will be working somewhat backward through the details of this section:
12 And had a wall great and high, and had 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:
13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
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.
We’ve already covered that this city is 1500 miles long, wide and high and that “down” in the center of one wall of the city will be 21.685 degrees different than “down” in the center of the opposite wall of the city and even more pronounced from corner to opposite corner!
We talked about what “lieth foursquare” means, that the city covers a square area, or has a square footprint, and that the walls will have to be slightly concave on the curved surface of the New Earth.
Now, it is possible that the city has no specific shape but consists of huge buildings that tower 1500 miles high, but that seems unlikely to me. There are some who believe that the city is a giant cube; however, this was based on a faulty understanding of the English term “foursquare.” It does NOT mean that it has four square walls! However, having four walls is reasonable because of the gates, three on each of the four compass directions or three in each of the four walls.
A 1,500-mile x 1,500-mile cube would have certain problems sitting upon the New Earth most have never considered. For instance, the walls would not be orthogonal to the earth’s surface. If they were orthogonal (at right angles to the surface of the earth), The top of the cube would actually stretch for MORE than 1,500 miles! To be a true cube, the sides would have to slant in from 90 degrees by half of the 21.685 degrees or 10.8425 degrees. That means that they would slant at 79.1575 degrees! Thus, from the surface of the earth beside the city, either the city wouldn’t appear cubical and truly be, or it would look cubical but truly not be!
HOWEVER, the four walls might each be an isosceles triangle that come together to a point at the top, with the base still a square. This describes a pyramid shape instead of a cube. As long as the height of the pyramid is still the 1,500 miles (12,000 furlongs), it will meet the description of the city.
Now, doing a little math, the top pinnacle angle would be almost 53 degrees, and the base angle in the middle of a side would be 64.6 degrees less the 10.8425 degrees or 53.767 degrees! That means that from the surface of the earth beside the city, the city would look like the height was the same as the length and width, but it would actually BE the same height as its length and width, as well!
Let me mention at this point that the "golden reed" that Yochanan was using was NOT a "yardstick" or anything like that! The "golden reed" is a hollow tube! It was a surveyor's theodolite! These distances are FAR too long to measure by hand with a "yardstick," even if it measured 10 feet long (the proverbial "10-foot pole")! No, these distances would be measured by angles, known distances, and trigonometry.
Note, too, that the "WALL of the city had twelve foundations." I believe these to be foundational LEVELS to the city supported by the walls. Even if they were equally spaced, one would still find that they have about 125 miles between the tops of each level (1,500 miles / 12)!
One may also recall that this is precisely what Avraham (Abraham) was looking for, according to the author of the book of Hebrews:
Heb 11:8-10
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
KJV
Finally, John mentions that the city had a wall "great and high," then later he mentions the distance of 144 cubits which is only about 72 yards, and while this IS a good height to most of today's cities, it's not NEARLY as high as 1,500 miles! No, I believe that the wall goes all the way to the top and that the reason why there's no mention of it being open or having a roof is because it is a pyramid and has a pinnacle - a CAPSTONE - and it is not open at all. I believe that the 144 cubits is actually talking about the walls THICKNESS and that at the gates.
Lastly in these verses, Yochanan tells us that there will be 12 gates to the city. Since I believe that the city lands, it would make the best sense that these gates are evenly spaced around the perimeter of the city. So, at 1,500 miles x 4 or 6,000 miles for its perimeter, that would mean that the gates are still 500 miles apart, 250 miles from the corner to the first gate, 500 miles to the middle gate, 500 miles to the third gate, and 250 miles from the third gate to the corner, on each of the four sides (less the width of the gates, which may be quite large)! On these gates, we are told, are written the names of the twelve tribes of Yisra'el. We'll talk more about these gates in the next post.
In the Messiah's love,
Retrobyter
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