Revelation 21

The chapter

Revelation 21 is the second-to-last chapter of the Bible and the great vision of the new creation. John sees a new heaven and a new earth, the holy city of a new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, and hears the voice from the throne saying 'Behold, I make all things new.'

Who wrote it

John the son of Zebedee — the beloved disciple — writing from exile on Patmos c. AD 95.

Historical and geographical context

The setting is the vision itself — no earthly place. The new Jerusalem 'coming down from God out of heaven' is the fulfilment of every previous city Scripture named: the garden of Eden restored; the tabernacle in the wilderness fulfilled; the temple built by Solomon perfected; the city David established made eternal.

Important verses

• Revelation 21:1 (KJV) '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.'
• Revelation 21:2 (KJV) '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 21:3 (KJV) '…Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.'
• Revelation 21:4 (KJV) 'And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.'
• Revelation 21:5 (KJV) '…Behold, I make all things new.'
• Revelation 21:6 (KJV) '…I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.'
• Revelation 21:22 (KJV) 'And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.'
• Revelation 21:23 (KJV) 'And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.'

Christ-centred reading

The city has no temple because Christ — the Lamb — is the temple. It has no sun because He is the light. Its river is the water of life, and every promise of every prophet and every psalm finds its home here. The Bible ends where it began — a garden with a river — but now with the Lamb on the throne.

In Christian tradition

• Read at Christian funerals in most rites — Revelation 21:4 is the great hope-verse for the bereaved.
• Sung in Handel's Messiah, in Bach's cantatas, and in every hymnal of the Church.
• The 'new Jerusalem' has shaped Christian imagination from the Fathers to Augustine's City of God to the great cathedrals.

Connected People

• Christ Jesus — the Lamb, the light, the temple.
• John the Evangelist — the seer.

Connected Places

• Jerusalem — the earthly city fulfilled in the new one.
• Patmos — the island of the vision.
• Mount Moriah — the earthly temple mount that gives way to no temple.

Household application

Read Revelation 21:1-7 aloud at every Christian funeral.

Teach the little ones the last three verses of the Bible: 'Behold, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.' The Bible does not end in fear.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read Revelation 21-22 aloud on New Year's Eve or Christian burial.
• Pray (Chapel) — Pray 'Even so, come, Lord Jesus' each night.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — At the family table on New Year's Eve, read Revelation 21 aloud — the household's end-of-year hope.
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing 'Holy, Holy, Holy' (Reginald Heber, 1826).
• Learn (Workshop) — Study Isaiah 65:17 and 2 Peter 3:13 alongside Revelation 21 — the biblical new-creation promise.

Further reading

Revelation 21-22 in the KJV.

Isaiah 65:17-25.

2 Peter 3:13.

Augustine, City of God, Book XXII.

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Christ Jesus
• John the Evangelist
• Patmos
• Jerusalem
• Isaiah 53
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.