And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. -- Revelation 21:3 (KJV)
Two chapters from the end, John stops telling you what a thing looks like and starts telling you which way it is moving. A new heaven and a new earth. Then the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Down. Out of heaven. Toward the ground. The traffic in this vision runs one direction, and it is the direction God has always worked in.
Earth is in that sentence too — a new earth, named alongside the new heaven, with a city landing on it. Whatever God is doing at the end of the book, He is doing it here.
Four Ways of Saying One Thing
Then the great voice announces what has happened, and it says nothing about the city.
The tabernacle of God is with men. He will dwell with them. They shall be his people. God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Four clauses, one fact, said four times over like someone who has waited a long while to say it.
Then a promise physical enough to picture: God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. A hand, a face, and God near enough to the one crying to do it Himself. Death, sorrow, crying, pain — the whole list gets called former things, and the one calling them that is standing close enough to touch you.
And from the seat: Behold, I make all things new. The verb is make and the object is all things. Not a replacement set. These.
Notice which word the voice reached for. Tabernacle — the tent word, the one that belonged to a God who camped with His people while they were still on the move and packed up whenever they did. It is the word chosen for the last dwelling He ever makes. Same nearness. Nobody moving on.
