Revelation 21:21 “The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”
Revelation 22:1-2 “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. (2) In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
This brings us to the description of the street in the New Jerusalem. I want you to notice from both passages quoted above, that there is mention of only one street in the city, and not multiple streets. This scripture teaches us that the street will also be made of the same material that the residences are made of, i.e. pure gold that is as transparent as glass. The street will follow the same path as the river of Life, or more correctly put, the river of life will follow the same path as the street. For this passage informs us, that the river of Life will flow in the middle of the street. We know that the river of Life begins at the throne of God, but the street however, will not begin there, for the river of Life will first flow through the sea of glass that surrounds the throne. And so, it will be from the edge of the sea of glass that the street of the heavenly city will begin. That street will then wind its way around the city, in an ever widening circle until it reaches the city walls where it will branch out to each gate in the wall, finally ending at the last gate in the wall. Because the river of Life will flow in the middle of the street, in effect, there will be two streets, i.e. one on either side of the river. The combined width of the streets will be substantial, because not only will the river of Life be between the two streets, and that river will be wide enough to swim across (Ezekiel 47:5), but as is also revealed in the above passage, the trees of Life will be growing along its banks as well. So how will the saints cross the streets, if the river of Life separates the two? As our Lord Jesus demonstrated when He was on the earth, walking on water will be a normal practice for the saints, in the age to come.
Michael E.B. Maher
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