Jerusalem to New Jerusalem: Tracing God’s Holy City Across Scripture

Jerusalem, for most people, refers primarily to a real city in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. Also known as Zion, this city is mentioned many times in the Bible.¹

But the name Jerusalem is also associated with another location in the Bible.

In his letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul contrasts earthly Jerusalem with a “Jerusalem that is above” (Gal 4:26). The author of Hebrews also mentions a “heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb 12:22). Strikingly, this heavenly Jerusalem reappears in the final chapters of Revelation, where the Apostle John sees a “new Jerusalem” descend from heaven to a “new earth” (Rev 21:1–2, 10; cf. 3:12).

What are we to make of this?

Jerusalem as God’s earthly residence

In the Old Testament, the city of Jerusalem stands apart from all other locations.

After God dramatically redeems the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, the people sing of how he will “plant them” on a “mountain” where he will dwell in the “sanctuary” which he has established (Exod 15:17).²

This expectation of residing with God on a holy mountain is partially fulfilled after King David captures Jerusalem from the Jebusites and transports there the ark of the covenant (2 Sam 6:1–19).³ As the footstool of God’s heavenly throne (1 Chron 28:2; cf. Pss 99:5; 132:7), the ark signifies God’s majestic presence on earth.

God’s association with Jerusalem is confirmed by the building of an ornate palace/temple, which becomes his earthly residence (1 Kgs 6–8). After Solomon’s dedication of the newly constructed building, God’s glory fills the palace/temple as it did the tabernacle (1 Kgs 8:10–11; cf. Exod 40:34–35). By replacing the portable tabernacle with a palace/temple, Solomon makes Jerusalem God’s permanent home (e.g., Pss. 46:4; 48:8; 135:21). No other city experiences God’s presence in this way.

The presence of God transforms Jerusalem, making it a source of blessing to those who live or travel there as pilgrims to worship God (e.g., Pss 84:5–7; 128:5–6; 133:1–3; 134:3; 147:12–14).⁴

As God’s holy mountain city, Jerusalem is “perfect in beauty” (Ps 50:2) and becomes an object of praise. The author of Psalm 48 declares:

Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,
in the city of our God, his holy mountain.
Beautiful in its loftiness,
the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
the city of the Great King. (Ps 48:1–2; cf. Ps 125:1)

More significantly, the Israelites emphasize the mountain’s holiness due to God’s holy presence. Not surprisingly, God expects exemplary moral behavior from those who dwell there. As the Psalmist declares:

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god. (Ps 24:3–4; cf. Ps 15:1–5)

Unfortunately, despite being known as the city of God, Jerusalem’s residents live immorally. They break their unique covenant with God. Moses warned that disobedience would lead to exile (Deut 28:64–68).

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When the kings of Judah turn away from God, disastrous consequences follow. Despite the Davidic dynasty’s role in establishing Jerusalem as the city of God, the prophets announce God’s condemnation. Various prophets condemn the citizens of Jerusalem for their immorality (e.g., Isa 1:2–31; Jer 2:1–37; Ezek 5:8–12). In a notable parable illustrating God’s disappointment with their behavior, Isaiah compares Jerusalem’s residents to bitter grapes (Isa 5:1–5).

Eventually, through divine punishment, Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians in 586 BC. Ironically, challenging the belief that God would always safeguard Jerusalem, Jeremiah predicts that the Judaeans exiled to Babylon are safer than those left in Jerusalem. And, as the Prophet Ezekiel reveals, Jerusalem is so corrupted by idolatry that God can no longer dwell there.

A new Jerusalem anticipated

While Lamentations graphically reveals the devastating reality of God’s judgment against Jerusalem, all is not lost. Remarkably, the eschatological hope of the Old Testament centers on a new Jerusalem.⁵

Against a backdrop of destruction and exile, the Old Testament prophets envisage a transformed Jerusalem where the nations will come for divine instruction, leading to universal peace (Mic 4:1–4; Isa 2:2–4). As Heath Thomas observes, “Zion becomes a symbol of new creation and redeemed humanity that lives before God without sin, death, or pain because God rules in its midst.”⁶ Significantly, however, “in all this Jerusalem—the historical city—recedes into the background.”⁷

In a series of oracles, Isaiah looks forward to a transformed world centered on a new Jerusalem that is highly prized by God (Isa 62:1–5, 12). Isaiah contrasts God’s rejection of a deeply corrupted Jerusalem with a future Jerusalem that is associated with a second creation that mirrors the creation of the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1. Strikingly, Isaiah describes how this new Jerusalem will be marked by harmony in the natural environment (Isa 65:25; cf. Isa 11:6–9).

Like Isaiah, the Prophet Ezekiel envisions a future Jerusalem on a holy mountain where God will reside (Ezek 40–48). Scholars see this vision as symbolic, discounting a literal fulfillment. For example, Daniel Block writes, “All in all Ezekiel’s scheme appears highly contrived, casting doubt on any interpretation that expects a literal fulfillment of his plan.”⁸ Ezekiel foresees a time when the Jerusalem sanctuary is undefiled and everything is holy (Ezek 43:12; cf. 43:6–11). To convey the otherness of this transformed city, Ezekiel’s vision notably depicts a river originating from the temple that revitalizes the Dead Sea’s lifeless waters (Ezek 47:1–12).

The city envisaged by Isaiah goes far beyond all that is achieved under the post-exilic restoration initiated by Cyrus, the king of Persia. While Isaiah portrays Cyrus as a gentile messiah who rebuilds the temple in a restored Jerusalem (Isa 44:28),⁹ still more significantly, Isaiah anticipates a future Davidic king who, as the “servant of the Lord,” will be a light to the nations (Isa 49:6) and will atone for the sins of others (Isa 53:4–12).

The rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile highlights that God’s plan to establish a holy city where he will dwell with his people remains intact. Starting with the rebuilding of the temple, the city’s reconstruction offers hope for the return of a Davidic king, as foretold by various prophets during the exile (see Jer 23:5–6; 33:14–26; Ezek 34:23–31; 37:24–28; cf. Zech 9:9–10).

While it is often assumed that the new Jerusalem envisioned by Isaiah and Ezekiel involves the transformation of the post-exilic Jerusalem, there are indications that the new Jerusalem will be inhabited by those who are resurrected from the dead. Using imagery of captives returning from exile, Isaiah describes “those the Lord has rescued” entering “Zion with singing” and enjoying “everlasting joy” (Isa 35:10). This refers to more than exiles returning from Babylon. Elsewhere, Isaiah speaks of how God “will swallow up death forever,” having prepared “a feast of rich food for all peoples” on his holy mountain (Isa 25:6–8). With confidence Isaiah proclaims:

But your dead will live, Lord;
their bodies will rise—
let those who dwell in the dust
wake up and shout for joy—
your dew is like the dew of the morning;
the earth will give birth to her dead. (Isa 26:19)

These expectations suggest that Isaiah has in view a city that far exceeds the Jerusalem of his day or anything that it could become through merely human actions. The same is true of Ezekiel’s vision of Jerusalem. In light of such expectations, Jewish writings from the intertestamental period express belief in an eternal, heavenly Jerusalem.¹⁰ The same hope is also present in the New Testament.

The eternal, heavenly Jerusalem

Building on the Old Testament, New Testament writers emphasize the importance of Jerusalem’s role in God’s redemptive plan.

Significantly, attention shifts from the earthly city to a heavenly Jerusalem. Declaring him to be the promised Davidic king, the Anointed One, the Christ (i.e., Messiah), Jesus of Nazareth is central to this transition. While Jesus’s birth is associated with the “redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38), the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke emphasize Jesus’s public ministry in Galilee, suggesting that earthly Jerusalem is not the primary locus of the kingdom of God, contrary to the hopes of Jesus’s contemporaries. Matthew’s references to the “kingdom of heaven” also diminish the importance of the earthly Jerusalem, as does the Galilean ending of his gospel with its international perspective.

While Jesus’s death in Jerusalem is exceptionally important, it is striking that when Luke writes of Jesus’s journey to the city, he does not portray it as the final goal: “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). Jesus’s ascension to heaven takes precedence for it results in his enthronement as universal king at God’s right hand in the heavenly sanctuary (cf. Ps 110).

Highlighting Jesus’s ascension in Luke 24:50–53 and Acts 1:6–11, Luke notes that God moves from residing in the Jerusalem temple to dwelling through the Spirit in the followers of Jesus.¹¹ Importantly, consistent with Jesus’s prophecy that the temple will be destroyed (Matt 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6), God transitions from living among his people to living within them, thereby reducing earthly Jerusalem’s significance as the holy city.

Although Jesus appreciates Jerusalem’s importance in God’s redemptive plan and shows concern for its people’s well-being, he highlights its rejection of God.¹² While welcomed as the “son of David,” his brutal death, provoked by the religious leaders, reveals the city’s hostility toward God. Under a new covenant established by Jesus, God’s plans for ransomed humanity involve a heavenly Jerusalem.

The Apostle Paul highlights this dramatic change of location in his letter to the Church of Galatia. He uses the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar to illustrate a crucial contrast between the “present Jerusalem” and the “Jerusalem above” (Gal 4:21–31).¹³ Additionally, he reminds the Church of Philippi that “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:20).

The author of Hebrews also highlights the significance of “the heavenly Jerusalem,” calling it “the city of the living God” (Heb 12:22). He adds, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Heb 13:14). Linking this concept of a “city that is to come” to the patriarch Abraham, Hebrews states that Abraham, in faith, looked forward to “a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Heb 11:16), and “to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb 11:10). Though Abraham never lived in this city during his earthly life, the writer of Hebrews foresees a time when Abraham and his readers will dwell there together (cf. Heb 11:39–40).

Recalling the expectations in the book of Isaiah of a new creation involving a transformed Jerusalem, the Apostle John’s climactic vision in Revelation 21–22 depicts the descent of a heavenly city to a new earth. Highlighting its grandeur and splendor, this cosmopolitan Jerusalem hosts redeemed believers who experience abundant, eternal life in a world purged of all evil. Remarkably, as the goal of God’s redemption activity, the entire biblical story from the garden of Eden onward comes to a finale in this new Jerusalem.¹⁴

For believers, the Bible emphasizes that our future hope does not lie in present-day Jerusalem, despite its past importance in the purposes of God. Rather, we look with confidence to the creation of a new Jerusalem where the resurrected followers of Jesus will experience life in all its fulness in the presence of their Savior and Lord.

T. Desmond Alexander’s suggested resources

• Fuller Dow, Lois K. Images of Zion: Biblical Antecedents for the New Jerusalem. New Testament Monographs 26. Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2010.
• Walker, Peter W. L., ed. Jerusalem Past and Present in the Purposes of God. Deo Gloria Trust, 1992.

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1. In Old Testament poetic texts like Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lamentations, Jerusalem is often referred to as Zion. In the New Testament, the name Zion is used infrequently, mostly in quotes from the Old Testament.
2. The term “sanctuary” denotes a holy place.
3. Prior to David’s capture of the city, it was known as Jebus. After earlier failed attempts to take the city (Josh 15:63; Judg 1:21), David’s conquest marks the final Israelite campaign in Canaan, completing the settlement of the Israelites in the land.
4. See Jerome F. D. Creach, The Destiny of the Righteous in the Psalms (Chalice, 2008), 124–34.
5. See Donald E. Gowan, Eschatology in the Old Testament (Fortress, 1986).
6. Heath A. Thomas, “Zion,” in Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets (InterVarsity Academic, 2012), 913.
7. J. Gordon McConville, “Jerusalem in the Old Testament,” in Jerusalem Past and Present in the Purposes of God, ed. P. W. L. Walker (Deo Gloria, 1992), 47.
8. Daniel Block, The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 25–48 (Eerdmans, 1998), 502.
9. He is referred to as “the Lord’s anointed,” a title that is associated with the kings of Israel and Judah.
10. See Lois K. Fuller Dow, Images of Zion: Biblical Antecedents for the New Jerusalem (Sheffield Phoenix, 2010), 127–31.
11. Greg K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission (Apollos, 2004), 201–16.
12. As seen in passages like Matt 23:37–39; Luke 13:33–34; 19:41–44.
13. For a helpful analysis of Paul’s comments, see David W. Gooding, The Riches of Divine Wisdom: The New Testament’s Use of the Old Testament (Myrtlefield House, 2013),222–39.
14. For a fuller discussion, see T. Desmond Alexander, The City of God and the Goal of Creation (Crossway, 2018).