In olden times the cities were surrounded with walls, designed as a defense against all enemies.  The more important the city, the higher and stronger were the walls built.  Having walls, it was necessary also to have gates to furnish ingress and egress to the inhabitants.  These gates were in charge of faithful guardians, who had authority to open and to close them according to the regulations of the city.  In accordance with this idea the city of God is represented as having “a wall great and high.”  This wall represents the security of Zion, whose inhabitants within can rest in peace and safety.  The three gates on each side represent the free and easy access into the city from every quarter.  Anciently, it was customary to give names to the gates of a city, just as we now do to our streets.  The gates of this holy city were named after the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, which embraced all God’s ancient covenant people, and which denotes the perfection and completeness of our heavenly home as including all the spiritual Israel.

“And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”  The twelve foundations, or rather the twelve courses of stone in the foundation, are more fully described hereafter.  The names of the twelve tribes were on the gates to denote that the city was composed of God’s true and complete Israel, and the names of the twelve apostles are on the foundation to denote that this contains the church which was “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.”  Eph. 2:20.  The system of truth that they preached to the world forms the doctrinal basis of the church of God, they having received it from heaven “by inspiration of God,” and their names all appear; and together they constitute one harmonious, solid foundation upon which the church shall stand forever.

The dimensions of the city as measured by the angel are next given as twelve thousand furlongs, or one thousand five hundred miles.  By the statement that the length, the breadth and the height are equal, some have supposed that the city was one thousand five hundred miles high.  To quote the words of a certain commentator:  “The language, however, will bear another meaning, which is far more natural.  It is not that the length and breadth and height were severally equal to each other, but equal with themselves; that is the length was everywhere the same, the breadth everywhere the same, and the height the same.  It was perfect and symmetrical in all its proportions.  This is confirmed by the fact distinctly stated, that the wall was one hundred and forty and four cubits high, or two hundred and sixteen feet, a proper height for a wall; while it is said only that ’the length is as large as the breadth.’” This writer reckoned but eighteen inches for a cubit, whereas some figure twenty-two.  A city one thousand and five hundred miles high with a wall only two hundred and sixteen or two hundred and sixty four feet high, would be altogether out of proportion.