Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God… He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement.
Revelation 21:9-10,17
When I was growing up, most of my knowledge of heaven and new creation came from the 1993 CCM classic, “Big House.” This song describes the Father’s house as a place with many rooms, lots of food, and a yard big enough to play football. I can’t tell you if we’ll actually be playing football in new creation, but Audio Adrenaline did correctly state that the Father’s house is massive.
This passage tells us that the wall of the holy city is 144 cubits. Even more fascinating to me is the fact that John specifically writes that this is by both human and angel measurement. A cubit would be roughly the length from your elbow to your fingertips, so I’d argue that even all humans don’t share that exact measurement. Yet, we’re told here that the measurement is the same.
If I were to guess, I’d say that John is likely trying to tell us something more than just the measurement itself. This specific angel is said to have one of the seven bowls. He has a unique purpose and task. In the same way, humans made in God’s own image, have unique roles and tasks. This measurement is also 144, which is 12×12. In the Old Testament as well as the New, numbers were often symbolic or they conveyed a larger meaning. John is telling us something about new creation and ourselves.
As twelve is a number of completeness, I’d suggest that this is showing us that new creation is perfectly complete. This also tells us that we will be perfectly complete. Angels are glorified heavenly beings and fellow servants of God. This kind of equality that John is describing reinforces the fact that we too, will exist in glorified human bodies.
I pray that this promise of perfect completion in new creation would rest in your heart today.
Kassie Lowe
Young Adults Lead