Want Heaven? Be a Witness

28 March 2026  Ezekiel 37:21-28

Saturday of the Fifth week of Lent

“Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the Lord, who make Israel holy, when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.” (Ezekiel 37:28)

The Western Wall in Jerusalem – sometimes called the Wailing Wall – is not actually the wall of the Jerusalem Temple. It is a retaining wall supporting the fill dirt behind it, the western support for the plaza where the Second temple once stood. It is one of the holiest places in all Judaism, a place where people go to hope and pray for the time when God’s sanctuary will be set up again, forever.

In heaven, however, there isn’t going to be a temple.

“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of the Lord is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:22-23).

In short, heaven is the destination of witnesses, and the way to heaven is the way of witness, testifying with your life that you know the story and share it so that others can find the way, too. Knowing the story and sharing the story, therefore, is finally what it means to be in God.

Heaven, the promised sanctuary, is not a place where God is – God is the place. Our destiny is not to be in a place where God is, but to be in God, and because we are in God, our access to God will be unmediated. We will have no more need of a temple, or a Bible, or a priesthood to bring God to us and explain Him because we will have God Himself. To be in God, to be direct partakers of the Divine Nature (cf. II Peter 1:4), is what it means to be in heaven.

It is always a little dangerous to be too specific about what and where heaven is because none of us have been there, and we are assured it is full of surprises. “The last will be first, and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:16) – we are told heaven will turn many of our expectations upside down. The people who complacently assume that their reservation in heaven is assured, therefore, shouldn’t be too cocky. A close reading of what the Bible says about heaven, however, can give us some provocative hints about what to expect, and what to be busy with now.

The Seer of the book of Revelation describes heaven as a place of staggering size and astonishing beauty. The only words he can use to describe it are foundations of precious stones, gates of pearl, and structures of pure gold transparent as glass (21:18-21). There is nothing in heaven that doesn’t far surpass the most breathtaking beauty of the world. Access to this place, however, is not unlimited – all the ways in, we are told, have names, the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the twelve apostles of the Lamb (21:12-14). In other words, the ways in are the witnesses who first told the story of salvation. Believing the story, and being a character in the story, therefore, is the way in. And seeing such people is what will persuade the nations to believe the story and come in, too. Like every other witness, they will bring their glory with them, the story of the witnesses who persuaded them, and how they became witnesses themselves (21:24-27).

In short, heaven is the destination of witnesses, and the way to heaven is the way of witness, testifying with your life that you know the story and share it so that others can find the way, too. Knowing the story and sharing the story, therefore, is finally what it means to be in God. Maybe there won’t be a temple in heaven, or a Bible, or a priesthood because we will all have direct access to God there. But all those things, and more, are part of bearing witness now. All those things are part of how we know the story and learn to share it.