Revelation 21:15: And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

An angel carried John to a high mountain and talked with him about the celestial city of Holy Jerusalem in Revelation 21:9.¹ During this vision, the angel had a golden reed to measure the city.² John previously received a reed that was not made of gold which he used to measure the earthly temple in Old Jerusalem in Revelation 11:1.³ Here the angel uses a golden reed to measure the city, the gates, and the wall⁴ as a symbol of God's all-encompassing protection.⁵ The city, the gates, and the wall were measured with exactness.⁶ This precision symbolizes God's perfect order⁷ and the perfect fulfillment of all God's promises⁸ to his worthy children of the celestial kingdom.⁹

Revelation 21:16: And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

The city is equally square on all sides like a cube¹⁰ to symbolize God's perfection.¹¹ The Holy of Holies in the ancient tabernacle and in the First Temple of Solomon were also built in the shape of a perfect cube.¹² This perfect symmetry and order¹³ symbolize God's presence.¹⁴

The city's symbolic proportions are immense.¹⁵ The length, width, and height are all 12,000 furlongs, which is about 1400 to 1500 miles in every direction.¹⁶ The symbolic measurement is derived from the priesthood number 12 multiplied by 1000 to give it a superlative quality.¹⁷ The symbolic dimensions of the city are incredibly large because the city represents the entire celestial earth.¹⁸ In addition, the immense size of the city is symbolically proportional to the immense number of God's children¹⁹ that will be saved in the celestial kingdom.²⁰

Revelation 21:17: And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

The angel used his own arm to measure the city wall in cubits according to the measure of a man.²¹ This indicates that the angel was a man himself, and may have been resurrected by the time of John's vision in 96 AD.²² He used the cubit as a common measure that would be familiar to John and others so that the vision could be understood.²³

The wall of the celestial city was 144 symbolic cubits high or about 216 feet.²⁴ Some scholars of the Bible say this measurement could be the width of the wall,²⁵ since the wall is extremely short when compared to the city that is 1500 miles tall.²⁶ However, the relatively short wall symbolically reflects the absence of any outside threat to the city.²⁷

The 144 cubit dimension of the wall is the square of the symbolic priesthood number 12²⁸ to indicate that the fulness of the priesthood is the city's defense.²⁹ The fulness of the priesthood is the Patriarchal Order of the Priesthood,³⁰ which comes to worthy men and women through the exalting ordinances of the temple.³¹ This order within the Melchizedek Priesthood³² is organized by family,³³ rather than by quorums or priesthood office.³⁴ The family organization of the Patriarchal Order began with the family of Israel in the premortal existence.³⁵ The twelve city portals are inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel³⁶ to symbolize this perfected family organization in the celestial kingdom.³⁷