What do the twelve gates and twelve foundations of the New Jerusalem mean (Revelation 21:12-14)?

Whosoever Will, The Names on the Walls: Twelve gates. On them, the twelve tribes of Israel. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, and the rest. Jacob’s sons. The nation. Two verses later: “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” Twelve foundations. On them, the twelve apostles. Peter, James, John, and the rest. The men Christ built His church on, the church that began at Pentecost and is Abraham’s seed by faith. One wall. Israel’s names on the gates. The church’s names on the foundations. Both carved into the same city, in the same eternal state, by the same God. Neither erased, neither absorbed, neither standing outside. This is the picture the whole question turns on, and it is worth stating what it does and does not show. It does not show two cities. There is one New Jerusalem. It does not show two peoples kept apart. Gates and foundations are parts of one wall. It shows two names. Israel is still Israel, twelve tribes, on the gates. The church is still the church, twelve apostles, on the foundations. God kept what He said to Jacob’s sons and God kept what He said to Peter, and the city carries both sets of names forever. Scripture, King James Version: Revelation 21:12-14, "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: On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.".

Verified. Every scripture quotation on this page has been checked word-for-word against the King James text. Last reviewed 2026-10-18.