B A 21:1,2. Visions (heaven and earth, &c.)
B | 21:3-8. Voices.
A | 21:9-22:5. Visions (the bride).(Here we start the beginning of eternal [or 3rd] earth age.)
3: And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will tabernacle with them (God comes down here to earth. Cp. Ex. 29:46, &c., for God's promise to dwell among His People in the Land. For the promise to dwell among His People, restored Israel, in the millennial Land, see Zech. 2:10,11; 8:3, &c. Here we have the final and glorious fulfillment of the promise in Isa. 7:14 and Matt. 1:23 - IMMANUEL, God with us), and they shall be His Peoples (whereas it was People, Israel, it is now Peoples, called the "nations" in v.24), and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any pain; for the former things (i.e. lake of fire, villains &c,. See Isa. 25:7,8; 35:10. Jer. 31:16) are passed away.”
5: And He that sits upon the Throne said, “Behold, I will make all things new” (= a renewal). And He says, “Write (the Word of God): for these words are faithful and true.”
6: And He said to me, “They (i.e the words) are come to pass, I am the Alpha and the Omega (see 1:8), the Beginning and the End. I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely (= CHRIST. For another use of the word "freely", see John 15:25)
7: He that overcomes shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. (NO GENDER INTENDED)
8: But the fearful (see Matt. 8:26 & Mark 4:40), and unbelieving (see Matt. 17:17), and the abominable (see Rom.2:22), and murderers, and whore-monger, and sorcerers (see 22:15. Those who have commerce with evil spirits, as modern "Spiritualists"), and idolaters, and all the false, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death” (see Ps.37. removed and done away with, turned to ashes from within, turned into nothingness forever, they won't exist any more)
9: And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues (see 15:1), and talked with me saying, “Come to this place, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.” (see Matt. 10:35. Luke 12:53. John 3:29. Rev. 18:23; 22:17. The "wife" and the "bride" here must not be confused with the "wife" of 19:7. The wife of 19:7 is Israel, called out from all the nations for blessing in the Land, the earthy consort of "the great King" [cp. Ps. 45. Jer. 3:14]. The "bride, the Lamb's wife" here is still of Israel, but that Israel of the "heavenly calling" [Heb.3:1]; all those connected with the "heavenly" country and "the city which has the foundations", for which "they looked" [Heb. 11:13-16])
10: And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain (= nation, see 17:9), and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
11: Having the glory of God: her light was like a stone most precious, even like jasper stone, clear as crystal (= purity);
12: Having a wall great and high, and having twelve gates (cp. Ezek. 48:31-34. Both John and Ezekiel wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, and their specific descriptions refer to different cities), and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons 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. (Don't count Judas out. He did repent and was forgiven)
15: And he that talked with me had a golden reed for a measure, in order that he might measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16: And the city lies foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs (= 1500 miles). The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. (The "holy city" is presented to us in a perfect cube of 12,000 furlongs. In Salomon's Temple "the Holy of Hollies" was a perfect cube of twenty cubits. 20 in Biblical numerics = redemption.)
17: And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty-four cubits (= about 300 feet. See Ezek. 43:13), the measure of a man, that is, an angel.
18: And the material of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like clear class. (= it was pure and perfect)
19: The foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper (cp. this and the other stones here with those in Aaron's breastplate-Ex.28:17-21); the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
20: The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
21: And the twelve gates were pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
22: And I saw no Temple in it: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it. (God was there. This shows clearly that the wonders and glories revealed here belong to post-millennial times and ages. Therefore, the city of the great King during the thousand years, with "the sanctuary" of Ezek. 45:2, et al., and it's palace temple, will have "passed away". There cannot be two Jerusalem's on the earth at one and the same time. The new Jerusalem comes down on the new [renewed] earth, thus taking the place of the former city.)
23: And the city has no need of the sun, neither the moon, in order to shine on her: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
24: And the nations (= ethnic peoples) shall walk in the light of her (i.e. Jerusalem): and the kings of the earth (= the foreign leaders and rulers, non-Israelite. See Isa. 60:1-3) bring their glory to it. (i.e. the house of God)
25: And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. (see Isa. 60:19-22)
26: And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.
27: And there shall be in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that works or makes a lying abomination (i.e. an idol), and makes a lie: only they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. (see 13:8)