Revelation 21:3: And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

In Revelation 21:3, John heard a great voice out of heaven,¹ which came from the throne of God.² It is the voice of God the Father,³ although some say the voice comes from Jesus Christ.⁴ The voice is necessarily that of the Father because he proclaims that Christ dwells on the celestial earth as the tabernacle of God.⁵ Some people also misinterpret the tabernacle of God as a reference to New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven in Revelation 21:2.⁶

The ancient tabernacle in the days of Moses is the source of the symbol found in Revelation 21:3.⁷ The tabernacle in the days of Moses symbolized Jehovah's presence among the ancient Israelites,⁸ and it foreshadowed his personal reign on earth during the millennium.⁹ On the celestialized earth, the presence of Christ will be like a metaphorical tent that covers all God's children¹⁰ from the house of Israel that have eternal life¹¹ and those that inherit the celestial earth.¹² This future reality is also expressed in the name Immanuel, which is another name for Christ and means God is with us.¹³

God's great voice out of heaven also affirms that he also will dwell or tabernacle¹⁴ with his people in the celestial kingdom.¹⁵ The word people is plural in the Greek manuscript¹⁶ to be all-inclusive of everyone in the celestial kingdom.¹⁷ God himself shall be with them, and be their God.¹⁸ The work and glory of God¹⁹ has always been for his children to dwell with him in the celestial kingdom.²⁰ This is what John means when he states that the celestial New Jerusalem will come down from God out of heaven in Revelation 21:2.²¹

Revelation 21:4: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

When New Jerusalem descends to the celestialized earth, God shall wipe away all tears²² as a loving Father to all his celestial children.²³ There will be no reason for tears²⁴ because there shall be no more death.²⁵ The absence of death confirms that the Holy City in Revelation 21:2 will return after the millennium‒and not before‒because death will still exist during the millennium,²⁶ and especially during the little season that follows the millennium.²⁷ The condition of no more death will exist only after this earth is the last to die of all Christ's creations.²⁸ This earth will die last of all only after the resurrection is complete for all the people,²⁹ animals, plants, and worlds³⁰ that Christ physically created.³¹ Only then will there be no more death in this generation of all God's creations. All things that were once physically dead among all Christ's physical creations will be alive again forever when the resurrection is complete.³²

After the earth and all other things are resurrected there will be no reason for sorrow,³³ mourning,³⁴ or crying,³⁵ neither shall there be any more pain.³⁶ There shall be no physical pain because all bodies will be both immortal and glorified.³⁷ Finally, all telestial and corruptible conditions from the fall of Adam will no longer exist³⁸ because, as John states, all former things are passed away.³⁹