15 He who spoke with me had for a measure, a golden reed, to measure the city, its gates, and its walls.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
And he that talked with me - The angel, Revelation 21:9.
Had a golden reed to measure the city - See the notes on Revelation 11:1. The reed, or measuring rod, here, is of gold, because all about the city is of the most rich and costly materials. The rod is thus suited to the personage who uses it, and to the occasion. Compare a similar description in Ezekiel 40:3-5; Ezekiel 43:16. The object of this measuring is to show that the city has proper architectural proportions.
And the gates thereof, - To measure every part of the city, and to ascertain its exact dimensions.
Had a golden reed - Several excellent MSS. add μετρον, a measure; he had a measuring rod made of gold. This account of measuring the city seems to be copied, with variations, from Ezekiel 40:3, etc.
(13) And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
(13) A transition to a more exquisite description of the parts of the Church, by finding out its size, by the angel that measured them.
And he that talked with me,.... One of the seven angels, Revelation 21:9 for not a man is the measurer of this city, as in Ezekiel 40:3 nor John, as of the temple, Revelation 11:1 but an angel, the same that showed to John this great sight:
had a golden reed; not a common measuring reed, or rod, as in Ezekiel 40:4 but one covered with gold, denoting the present glorious state of the church, being without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing:
to measure the city; the new Jerusalem, its length and breadth; see Zac 2:1 to show how exactly conformable this church state will be to the rule of God's word, even to perfection: and the gates thereof; to signify who had a right to enter into it, and who not:
and the wall thereof; its height, it being exceeding high.
had a golden reed--so Coptic. But A, B, Vulgate, and Syriac read, "had (as) a measure, a golden reed." In Revelation 11:2 the non-measuring of the outer courts of the temple implied its being given up to secular and heathen desecration. So here, on the contrary, the city being measured implies the entire consecration of every part, all things being brought up to the most exact standard of God's holy requirements, and also God's accurate guardianship henceforth of even the most minute parts of His holy city from all evil.
And he . . . had a golden reed to measure the city. The reed is a divine measure and the city is to correspond to the measure. In chapter 11 the church is measured with a reed. Both the earthly and the heavenly church must agree with the divine plan.
And the city lieth foursquare. It is regular and symmetrical.
Twelve thousand furlongs. I suppose that these vast dimensions, a number twelve times one thousand, both favorite Hebrew numbers, are intended to indicate the vastness of the city, rather than its exact size.
The wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits. Again we have twelve times twelve, the square of a favorite and sacred number. The city has twelve gates, twelve angels, twelve foundations, and a wall twelve times twelve cubits high.
That is, of the angel. The measure of a man and of an angel will be the same in the New Jerusalem.
The wall of it was of jasper. A brightly radiant stone. See Revelation 21:11.
The city was pure gold. The symbols indicate that the city is beautiful and rich beyond conception. The costliest materials known to mortals are named in order to give us some idea.
And he measured the city, twelve thousand furlongs - Not in circumference, but on each of the four sides. Jerusalem was thirtythree furlongs in circumference; Alexandria thirty in length, ten in breadth. Nineveh is reported to have been four hundred furlongs round; Babylon four hundred and eighty. But what inconsiderable villages were all these compared to the new Jerusalem! By this measure is understood the greatness of the city, with the exact order and just proportion of every part of it; to show, figuratively, that this city was prepared for a great number of inhabitants, how small soever the number of real Christians may sometimes appear to be; and that everything relating to the happiness of that state was prepared with the greatest order and exactness.
The city is twelve thousand furlongs high; the wall, an hundred and forty - four reeds. This is exactly the same height, only expressed in a different manner. The twelve thousand furlongs, being spoken absolutely, without any explanation, are common, human furlongs: the hundred forty - four reeds are not of common human length, but of angelic, abundantly larger than human. It is said, the measure of a man that is, of an angel because St. John saw the measuring angel in an human shape. The reed therefore was as great as was the stature of that human form in which the angel appeared. In treating of all these things a deep reverence is necessary; and so is a measure of spiritual wisdom; that we may neither understand them too literally and grossly, nor go too far from the natural force of the words. The gold, the pearls, the precious stones, the walls, foundations, gates, are undoubtedly figurative expressions; seeing the city itself is in glory, and the inhabitants of it have spiritual bodies: yet these spiritual bodies are also real bodies, and the city is an abode distinct from its inhabitants, and proportioned to them who take up a finite and a determinate space. The measures, therefore, above mentioned are real and determinate.
*More commentary available at chapter level.