And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.
Observable is that variety of expressions which the Holy Ghost here makes use of, to set forth the excellency of the church triumphant by, 1. She is blessed with God's immediate presence and abode, of which the tabernacle was a sign; the Lord manifesting himself in heaven unto his saints in a more immediate way than ever he did unto them here on earth, the...
out of heaven--so ANDREAS. But A and Vulgate read, "out of the throne." the tabernacle--alluding to the tabernacle of God in the wilderness (wherein many signs of His presence were given): of which this is the antitype, having previously been in heaven: Rev 11:19; Rev 15:5, "the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven"; also Rev 13:6.
A new universe opens before us: not newly fashioned, but newly revealed and filled with heirs at last claiming their own. The glorified bodies of the saints will themselves be spiritual and heavenly, fitted for those bright mansions. All the old world's tumult and sorrow passes away to make room for this perfection.
AI summary
Commenting on Revelation 21:1-8