Walls of Salvation

It began as a barbed-wire fence but evolved into a fortified concrete wall with border guards, land mines, and attack dogs. The 12-foot high, 27-mile-long Berlin Wall was built to cut off access to West Berlin from 1961 to 1989. While most walls are made to keep people out, the Berlin Wall was built to keep East Germans in.

At the end of the millennium, the wall surrounding the New Jerusalem will prevent sinners from sneaking inside. Of course, those inside will stay voluntarily and avoid experiencing the fate of the wicked. Imagine how the lost will feel in those last hours, knowing that Satan has lied to them and that they will not be able to enter the eternal city.

In yesterday’s verse, we learned that the length of the city, as well as its width and height, is 1,500 miles. Converting 144 cubits, using a royal cubit of about 21 inches, yields only about 250 feet. This must mean that the 144 cubits are not referring to the height of the walls but, rather, their thickness.

A cubit is a unit of measure that is roughly the size of a man’s forearm from the elbow to the fingertip. Thus, the size of a cubit varies from place to place according to the average size of the inhabitants. Today’s cubits, however, are not the cubits of a man; rather, the cubits are according to the length of the angel’s arm, suggesting that our estimate of 250 feet is just that—an estimate.

While we don’t know the size of this heavenly being’s arm, we do know that the number 12 and its square, 144, represent a completion that describes God’s kingdom. While we would love to know exactly how high or thick these walls are, the message of Revelation is greater than knowing such physical dimensions.

Put simply, the walls of the city symbolize that it is a haven of worship that will safely accommodate all the righteous.

Dear heavenly Father, thank you for walls of protection that surround me each day. And thank you for the walls of salvation that will keep me close to You forever.

For Further Study: 2 Chronicles 14:7; Psalm 122:7; Isaiah 26:1

Key Bible Texts

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. (Revelation 21:17 KJV)