When God destroys the present heavens and earth by fire at the end of the Millennium, He will create new ones that are vastly different from the originals.
The new earth will consist of or contain the holy city—the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2). The city will have pure gold streets, like transparent glass, and precious stones that will shine brilliantly from God’s glory (Revelation 21:10-11, 21). It will be laid out as a square, in cube form, rather than two-dimensional and flat (Revelation 21:16).
The city will have a high wall made of jasper surrounding it, with three gates on each side—north, south, east, and west (Revelation 21:12-13). Each gate will be a single pearl and always remain open (Revelation 21:21, 25). The jasper wall will have twelve jeweled foundations, which suggests there might be twelve levels within the city’s cubed formation (Revelation 21:14). The city will be the same distance in length, width, and height. Given its biblical measurement of 12,000 stadia, it will likely span 1,400-1,500 miles in each direction (Revelation 21:17).
Many elements present within the original heavens and earth will be absent in the newly created ones. Things like sin, sickness, suffering, evil, pain, death, and tears will be non-existent (Revelation 21:4, 27). Other elements like oceans, seas, the sun, the moon, night, temples, or churches will not be needed within this new heavenly home for believers. God’s glory will be its source of light, and God Himself will be its temple (Revelation 21:22-25).
The throne of God, and Jesus, the Lamb of God, will be in the center of the New Jerusalem. The “river of the water of life” will flow from this throne through the middle of the street (Revelation 22:1-2). On each side is the Tree of Life that will bear fruit each month for “the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2). Although the necessity for a healing tree in God’s presence is unclear on this side of eternity, it will be fully realized when seen and experienced first-hand.
I hope this information has been helpful and informative regarding the New Heaven and Earth. For additional Scripture verses on this topic, click here.
