And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
And. 'Aleph (') A B omit. Ezekiel 48:30-35, similarly, which implies that the millennial Jerusalem shall have its antitype in the heavenly Jerusalem descending on the finally-regenerated earth.
Wall great and high - the security of the Church. Also, the exclusion of the ungodly.
Twelve angels - guards of the twelve gates: an additional emblem of perfect security; while the gates being never shut (Revelation 21:5), imply perfect liberty and peace. Also, angels shall be brethren of the heavenly citizens.
Names of the twelve tribes. The inscription of the names on the gates implies that none but spiritual Israel, God's elect, shall enter. As the millennium, wherein literal Israel in the flesh shall be mother church, is antitype to the Old Testament earthly theocracy in Canaan, so the heavenly Jerusalem is the consummation antitypical to the spiritual Israel, the elect Jews and Gentiles being now gathered out: as spiritual Israel now is an advance upon the previous literal Israel, so the heavenly Jerusalem shall be much in advance of the millennial Jerusalem.