Revelation 22:21; For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb Are the Temple

Revelation 21:22 (KJV)  And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 

The absence of a temple from the New Jerusalem marks a significant difference from that expectation (Beckwith). A reconciliation of the two expectations notes that a restored temple as the centre for future bliss belongs to the millennial kingdom, but not to the New Jerusalem where no independent temple structure will exist. In the light of this absence, the promise to the overcomer in Revelation 3:12 is one of permanent citizenship in the Holy City (Swete).

Revelation 3:12 (KJV)  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

The conjunction “for” introduces an explanation for the phenomenon of a missing temple, that in the eternal state God Himself will dwell among His people in direct unmediated communion (Ladd). In 2 Corinthians 6:16 Christians are the temple of the living God, but in the words “for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”

God Himself is the temple or “sanctuary”, in other words, the Holy of Holies. So is the Lamb, according to the last three words,”God Almighty” – so often a descriptive title for God in this book (eg. Revelation 1:8) – has made Himself immediately available to the entire city (Lee). What for so long was a symbol in the earthly tabernacles and temple, the presence of God with men, now give place to reality (Kiddle).

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 474-475]