sight of Jehovah, if these sentiments of the heart did not give them life. That the Old Testament dispensation was established to produce this happy change of mind, by the efficacy of the Holy Ghost, and that it has produced it on the hearts of many thousands, cannot be doubted. The twelve gates in the text, are represented all alike; for the whole nation participated equally in the same divine institution. And each gate exhibits the name of the twelve tribes; to show that every tribe, enjoyed this divine institution to the salvation of many. But also old Jerusalem is said to have had twelve gates, to which this number may be an allusion; indicating that the saints of the Old Testament are comprised in New Jerusalem, and that that Church contained the first divinely established public enteries to this city of God.

This city is built exactly four-square, its corners pointing to the four cardinal points of the horizon, East, NorthSouth, West, and each side having three gates at equal distances, facing the four parts of the earth. This manner of laying off New Jerusalem, indicates the original intention of the Lord, that all Israel should enter at these gates and become citizens, even after it was dispersed among all nations in the four quarters of the globe; and that he will actually collect his saints from among the whole body of that people on a future day, by a general conversion; when they shall be ashamed of all that they have done Ezek. XLIII, 11. and be the means of a great harvest among the nations of the earth.

Verse 14. And the wall of the city. After the gates, the prophet now enters upon a more minute description of the wall, which was only mentioned ver. 12. as being great and high. The gates marked the outlines and vast extent of the city, upon the immense surface of the rock of ages; and the building of its wall, at once enclosed and separated its whole dimensions from the rest of the earth. This wall signifies the establishment of the true Church of

Christ by the promulgation of the Gospel through the instrumentality of the twelve apostles; whose names were inscribed on it, in allusion to that ancient custom of engraving the names of skilful architects on public buildings, in order to transmit their fame to posterity. It had twelve foundations. This exppression is somewhat dark, because it is an allusion to an ancient mode of building the walls of cities among the Romans, who instead of running a line along the wall, as we do, used very long caissons, or frames of wood, whose interior breadth was that of the wall, and whose depth was that of the alternate courses, or layers of stone. These caissons were removed up from one course to another; and when one part of the wall was thus reared to its intended height, the caisson was removed, and another began. Thus the wall consisted of as many parts, as the caisson was removed forward; but the different courses of stone in every part, ranged with the whole. However, not only the different layers of stone were called media, foundations, by the Greeks, but more properly the different parts of the wall itself. According to this mode of building, St. John beheld the wall of New Jerusalem reared, consisting of twelve foundations, into which the wall was divided by the twelve gates, all around the city. These twelve foundations represent the ministerial labours of the twelve apostles and their followers in the ministry; wherefore each part between two gates, bears the name of one of the apostles of the Lamb; but the whole wall is the hieroglyphic of the Gospel dispensation. This wall completed the whole circumference of the city, or the whole plan of salvation; of which the gates exhibited only an imperfect sketch, were many things were wanting, to form a competent idea of the whole. Thus, as the building of a wall enclosed a city, so are the future citizens of New Jerusa

†See Kings Munimenta Antiqua vol. 11, p. 9, as cited by Burder in his oriental customs vol. 11, No. 1400.

lem by the Gospel dispensation, called, assembled, enlightened, sanctified and preserved unto everlasting life; and those who are not thus taken into this covenant of grace, have no claim on the felicity of this city, which is only the happiness of the covenant people. This wall is termed great ver. 12. because it is the accomplishment of the great scheme of salvation, formed and executed by a great author and powerful means; it is termed high on account of its sublime doctrines, deep mysteries, exalted happiness which is thereby everlastingly fixed and secured for believers. Isa. xxvi, 1. LX, 18.

Verse 15. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16. And the city lieth four-square, and the length is as large as the breadth. And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs: the lentgh, and the breadth, and the height of it are equal.

17. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is of the angel.

:

18. And the building of the wall of it was of Jasper and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass

The angel that measured the city, was the same who showed the apostle this great sight, ver. 9. Of all the prephecies in the Revelation, this measurement and its ratio are involved in the greatest degree of obscurity; because it refers to an event, which only will be finally accomplished on the New Earth. The general purport of the angel seems to be, to assist us in forming an idea of its extraordinary magnitude, and of the proportioned ratio of the different parts to the whole. As the city is an architectural representation, of the divine Economy of the Lord, in accomplishing the salvation of his people in all ages of the world; so the measuring of it must present us with the aggregate, and sum total of all the effects, benefits, and final result of Christ's redemption among the child

Ben of men within the reach of his Economy, and with the labours of his different architects and servants employed. For the angel not only measured the wall, to ascertain the whole amount of the circumference of the city, he also measured its height, in both of which the amount of the gates was included; chiefly to form an estimate of their labours and success, under the Lords superintend

ence.

I never felt my incapacity more, than I do now in entering on these mysterious subjects; and freely confess that my explanation is unsatisfactory to my own mind, and the text beyond my comprehension. The most inscrutable part seems to be the golden reed, and its signification; which has been explained very differently by expositors. Some have taken it to signify the word of God, as a rule of perfection, according to which the citizens of New Jerusalem are ascertained to be equal in moral excellence to the angels in heaven, Gal. vI, 16. Matt. XXII, So. Luke xx, 36. These found their opinion on the words in the 17th verse, μετρον ανθρώπου, ο εστιν αγγηλού, which they render, the measure of a [perfect] man, which is that of an angel. Others have understood it as referring to the whole number of the elect people of God, which they expect to ascertain by computing all the cubical dimensions of the city, and dividing it by the measure of the golden reed in the following

manner.

i

The city is represented as a geometrical cube of six sides, and each side is said to measure 12000 stadia, which word is rendered furlongs. St. John says, its length, breadth, and height are equal. Bengelius computes 12000 stadia to be equal to 2574 German miles, and the whole geometrical cube to contain 1728 000 000 000 cubic stadia. These he would afterward divide by twelve, as the appropriate mansion for each citizen, John XIV, 2; which would amount to

a great number indeed, in a city of so many mifes in circumference."*

"He then considers the 12000 stadia, and the 144 measures to be equal; so that the angel by measuring the whole lenght of his golden reed 144 times, had measured the 12000 stadia. This would make the lenght of his reed to have been 834. stadia. Now as the Orientals computed all long-measures by parts of the human body, Bengelius is of opinion, that also this reed of the angel was such and as it is said that this cubit was the measure of a man, which the angel had, he concludes that the angel appeared to John in a human form, but of an astonishing gigantick size, so that his cubit, i. e. the distance from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger, was equal to the above 83 stadia, and the proportion of his whole body accordingly. According to this proportion of the angels arm, the height of his stature would have been five German miles; which appears enormous to us, who are unacquainted with the scale of proportions in heaven.f This explanation of the learned prelate's, is submitted to the reader without comment."

As both numbers, the 12000, and the 144, arise from the number 12 by multiplication, which, without doubt, has a reference to the twelve tribes, and to the twelve apostles; so it is highly probable, that the whole amount as here stated, refers to the gradual augmentation, and enlargement of the Church of Christ in past centuries. Thousand is a perfect number, and may indicate the accomplishment of the designs and purposes of the Lord, in the perfection of this city. We have seen that the number of the beast arises from the number six, the number of the visible Church of Christ from the number sevens and here we find, that the root of the number of his mys

*See Bengel'us's Commentary on the Apocalypse in loco, 4He takes 46 stadia to be equal to a German mile.