“I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2 HCSB).
John saw the “Holy City,” the “new Jerusalem,” come down. This is the very place that Christ went to prepare, saying, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:2-3).
He was following the same pattern as any Jewish groom would in the 1st century. Marriages had two ceremonies in those days: First, the betrothal ceremony and then, the wedding ceremony. The groom and his father would pay the agreed upon bride price at the betrothal ceremony. Then, the groom would return to his father’s house to prepare a place for his bride, usually adding on a room or two to his father’s house. Finally, the groom would go to get his bride and bring her to his father’s house on their wedding day, celebrating with a great banquet.
The “New Jerusalem” is the place that the Lord Jesus has prepared for us! The Father has already paid the price for our betrothal when He sent Jesus to die for us. Jesus has risen and returned to His Father’s house to prepare a place for us. Very soon He will return to take us to be with Him.
As my sweet mother used to sing, “I’m bound for that city, God’s home, that bright city. O yes I am!” For the New Jerusalem is both a place and a people. It is the place Christ has prepared for His Bride, which is the Church of the living God! Are you bound for that city?
PRAYER: Dear Father, we are the Church, the Bride of Christ. You have paid the bride price by sending Your Son to pay for our sins. Now we await the wedding day, when Christ shall return and the New Jerusalem, the place prepared for us, shall be our home. In Jesus’ name, amen.