Revelation 21:11; Twelve Gates

Revelation 21:12 (KJV)  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: 

The city’s twelve gates are actually gate-towers, the noun being the word for a large highway, as in Luke 16:20; of which the smaller “gate” is a part.

Luke 16:20 (KJV)  And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

In Revelation 21-22, it refers to the gate-towers of the city wall eleven times (Revelation 21:12 [twice], 13 [four times], 15, 21 [twice], 25; 22:14).

Revelation 21:12 (KJV)  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: 

Revelation 21:13 (KJV)  On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 

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

Revelation 21:21 (KJV)  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 

Revelation 21:25 (KJV)  And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 

Revelation 22:14 (KJV)  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 

The large number of gates are a reminder of the freedom of access to the city (Swete, Lee, Charles).

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 462]