Coming down [from God] out of Heaven, FROM GOD.—“We are not to think of this Holy City as being composed of literal stones, but of ‘living stones’ (1 Peter 2:4-7; Ephesians 2:19-22.) Neither Christ nor the saints in glory can be seen of men. But the whole world will quickly be made aware of the fact that a new Government has been instituted—a government of righteousness and all power.”—Z. '16-392; Heb. 11:10; 12:22; Rev. 3:12; 21:10.
Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.—“This declaration implies its beauty, grandeur and perfection, as a bride's adornment on such an occasion is particular and elaborate to the last degree. Additionally, the statement reminds us that in the government of the future the world's judges are to be the saints selected throughout the Gospel Age and frequently called ‘the Bride, the Lamb's Wife.’ ”—Z. '16-392; 2 Cor. 11:2; John 3:29; Eph. 5:31, 32.
21:3. And [I heard] a great voice.—The Lord Jesus, the Father's Word.
[Out of heaven] WAS saying, OUT OF THE THRONE, Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men.—“This verse associates this City with the other figure of a symbolic Temple, which the Lord is now preparing, of which the [pg 317] saints will constitute the ‘pillars.’ God will dwell in this Temple, and the world of mankind will approach God in it to receive the Divine blessings, as Israel approached the typical Tabernacle and the Temple in their typical religious services.” (Z. '01-199.) “When we think of the Church as the Temple under construction, it impresses upon us the thought that there is a future work to be accomplished. Why construct a Temple, and then not use it? St. Paul says, the Church is God's workmanship. (Ephesians 2:10.) And His work will be so perfectly accomplished that there will be no need of rectification or alteration beyond the veil,—beautifully illustrated in the erection of Solomon's Temple, of which we read that its stones were prepared at the quarry and then finally assembled for the construction of the Temple, and that they were so perfectly shaped and marked for their various places that they came together without the sound of a hammer.”—Z. '15-189; 2 Cor. 6:16.
And He [will dwell] DWELLETH with them and they shall be His people.—“All mankind will be treated from the standpoint of reconciliation, the Propitiation (price) for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) having been provided at Calvary, and the due time having then come for the manifestation of Divine favor.”—Z. '01-200; Psa. 68:18; Ezek. 37:27; Zech. 8:8.
[And] God Himself shall be with them, [and be their God].—“It will be the Kingdom of God, because God's dear Son and His joint-heir, the Church, will be in absolute accord with the Father, and all that shall be done under their control will fully and completely represent the Divine will respecting men. Nevertheless, it will be a separate Kingdom from that of the remainder of the Universe, as the Apostle Paul indicates. (1 Cor. 15:24, 25, 28.)”—Z. '01-200; Jer. 30:22; 31:33; Ezek. 11:20.
21:4. And [God] HE shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.—“The wiping away of tears implies a gradual work, such as we see will be the process of that glorious time. Man will not be exempt from every weakness and trial and difficulty at the beginning, but if he will conform to the Laws of the Kingdom, all cause for distress will gradually pass away, as restitution blessings will lift him out of death into life.”—Z. '01-200; Isa. 25:8; 65:19.
And there shall be no more death; neither sorrow nor crying SHALL BE.—“What a glorious sun-burst of blessing is in these words! What a grand fulfilment will be there of the Apostle's declaration respecting ‘Times of Restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy Prophets since the world began’! The declaration, however, applies to the very end of the Millennial Age, [pg 318] and not in full to any previous time in that Age. (John 5:28, 29.)”—Z. '01-200; 1 Cor. 15:26, 54; Rev. 20:14; Isa. 35:10; 51:11; 65:19.
[Neither shall there be any more pain] For the former things are passed away.—The reign of Satan, sin and death will have ended forever. “To gain a place in the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God will be to find the gratification of every desire and ambition of the perfect human heart.”—A. 291.
21:5. And He that sat upon the Throne said, Behold, I make all things new.—“This expression does not relate merely to rocks and trees, etc., but to the great work which our Lord undertook; viz., the regeneration of humanity to the complete perfection contemplated in the original Divine Plan.”—Z. '01-201; Rev. 20:11.