Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the Bible's central city — captured by David, home to Solomon's temple, and the place where God chose to put his name. Its very name is bound up with peace (shalom), and the Psalms call God's people to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. It was the heart of Israel's worship and the stage for its greatest dramas.

It was outside Jerusalem's walls that Jesus was crucified, and within the city that the church was born at Pentecost. Yet Scripture's vision reaches beyond the earthly city: the writer of Hebrews speaks of the heavenly Jerusalem, and Revelation ends with the new Jerusalem coming down from God, where he dwells with his people and every tear is wiped away.