Locating The New Jerusalem, Again

Q

You answered a question about Tending The Tree of Life, in which you made a statement that the New Jerusalem will not be on Earth. Can you clarify this?

A

I’ve gotten several versions of your question based on that answer so I’ll clarify myself for those who have asked as well as for those who haven’t but are wondering. In my commentary on Rev. 21 I described the size of the New Jerusalem, which John said is 12,000 stadia on a side and 12,000 stadia tall, this way.

“12,000 stadia are equal to about 1400 miles, meaning that if this city came to rest in Europe, it would cover everything from Scandinavia to Gibraltar and from the Coast of Spain to Italy’s heel. Alternatively, it would hide the entire Middle East, or all the Eastern US from Maine to Florida and from the Atlantic past the Mississippi. And at 1400 miles tall it would be over 4000 times as tall as the next tallest building on Earth. John didn’t give us its shape, but a globe with a 1400 mile diameter would be about 1/6th the size of Earth or about 2/3rds the size of the moon. In short it’s too big to fit anywhere on Earth. More likely, it’s a small planet or low orbit satellite, maintained in the vicinity of Earth, but not on it.”