128. Strong and Beautiful Temple
Isaiah 54:11, 12 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
This prophecy of a grand New Jerusalem of the eternal presence of God will be graphically fulfilled in the Book of Revelation chapter 21-22. The stones, foundations, windows, gates and borders will be beautiful, grand and glorious beyond human description. This prophecy is a promise that will kept in wonderful fullness after Christ returns to earth to judge and set up the eternal state.
The Temple is a building designed to house the Presence of God on the earth. The revelation of God’s earthly presence was a progressive revelation throughout Scripture. The presence of God was evidenced at certain altars, shrines and holy places; then it was contained in the Tabernacle of Moses; then in the Temple of Solomon; then in the Second Temple; then in the body of Jesus Christ; and finally in the body of Christ, the invisible Church on earth and in heaven. The body of Christ and the body of the individual believer is the dwelling place of the Presence of God, and it is beautiful, grand, and glorious. This glorious “building” that houses the Holy Spirit of God is the physical body of the believer in Christ.
The promise and revelation of the Spirit through Isaiah describes something that we cannot see by using words describing something we are familiar with. Precious stones are often used in Scripture to reveal the beauty and wealth of the glory of God and what His presence is really like. Therefore, we may hold our human bodies in the highest respect and honor. God has beautified the human body by determining to dwell in it. The One who indwells there has graced our bodies.
This beauty and grace of God’s Presence dwells in the midst of a life that is afflicted, tossed with tempest, and left uncomforted. At the same time and place that we undergo affliction, trials and troubles God has built a glorious dwelling place for His glory and grace. We don’t see it, so we need a revelation like this to see how beautiful life is even while we experience suffering. Each human body was built to become a dwelling place for the Lord. God promises the believer that He is there.