The twelve gates are twelve pearls; each individual gate was made of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. —Revelation 21:21
On the evening of January 1, 2018, my wife Nancy began taking notes in a special Bible a good friend had sent to her for Christmas. This particular volume had wide, blank margins for journaling, and it was her first serious exposure to a brand- new translation of the Holy Scriptures: the Christian Standard Bible.
She began entering words as personal reflections, insights, and summaries of what she was reading. This was not for public consumption any more than if she were writing in a personal diary. (Remember the ones that included a lock and key for a reason everyone knows about?) After more than a half-century of Bible study and teaching leading up to recording observations in her own hand, this journaling became Nancy’s “happy place.”
Five years later, in January 2023, she finished. That very Bible, first in pristine condi- tion, now showed tatters and tears and scuffs, telltale mileage from travel and daily use. And after my gently pleading with her to be willing to share with others, Nancy’s handwritten words—now totaling more than seven hundred thousand—were ready to be reviewed, edited, and published.
Having spent thousands of hours soaking in Scripture through the course of those five years, she celebrated, as perhaps never before, the words we find in Revelation. Especially the final two chapters. Here John, the writer, is taken by a special angel on a guided tour of glory.
Because of my penchant for construction, I’ve been to Home Depot and Lowe’s hundreds of times. Examining the lumber, I’ve looked down the edges to be sure they’re straight and true. Then I’ve loaded these boards on one of those carts specially made for guys like me.
But you can’t find any of heaven’s building materials in these big-box stores.
They are unlike anything we can imagine until we move to our eternal home. The city, the walls, and the foundations are stunningly brilliant and beautiful, “adorned with every kind of jewel” (21:19)—fitting for the King and for the bride of the Lamb. Can you and I imagine this adequately? No, we can’t.
But someday, if we belong to Christ, we will see all these spectacular things with our own eyes. Then Jesus’s words, also recorded by John, will become sight: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” (Jn 14:2).
As Nancy concluded this remarkable adventure through the pages of her CSB Notetaking Bible, she wrote: “Let us treasure every word, every prophecy He has given us by His Spirit—read it, hear it, believe it, love it, live it, trust it, share it! Let us cherish and declare every Word in this precious book.”
So, this “Insight for the Day” concludes the journey you and I have taken together in this Bible, wending our way from “In the beginning” (Gn 1:1) to “the grace of the Lord Jesus be with everyone. Amen” (Rv 22:21).
My prayer, my sincere hope for you, is that having spent a year (or more) together peeling back the layers of this amazing book, you and I will find ourselves more ready than we’ve ever been to face our own eternity. In the new heaven. In the new earth. With Jesus, our Lord. Our Savior.