Revelation 21:3-5 describes the moment when God makes his home fully among his people, wiping away their tears and ending death, mourning, crying and pain. The passage promises that the old order of suffering is passing away and that God himself is making all things new. It comes near the close of the Bible, in the final vision of the book of Revelation, where the apostle John sees the new creation coming down from heaven.
3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.” 5 He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”
Revelation 21:3-5 (WEB)
Revelation 21:3-5 Summary
The passage opens with a loud voice from heaven announcing that God’s dwelling is now with humanity. The language recalls the tabernacle and temple, where God’s presence was once confined to a sacred space, but here that presence fills the whole renewed creation and the people who live in it. God is not a distant observer but one who lives among his people and claims them as his own.
From that announcement the passage moves to what God does for his people. He personally wipes away every tear, and the things that have marked human life since the fall, namely death, mourning, crying and pain, are declared to be gone. The voice from the throne then says that God is making all things new, and John is told to write down these words because they are faithful and true.
Context of Revelation 21:3-5
Revelation is traditionally attributed to John, who writes from exile on the island of Patmos to churches in the Roman province of Asia. Those believers faced economic pressure, social suspicion and in some cases persecution for refusing to take part in emperor worship. The book is written in apocalyptic style, full of visions and symbols, and it is meant to strengthen them to remain faithful while showing them how the story ends.
The verses just before this passage describe the new heaven and new earth, and the sea is no more. Then John sees New Jerusalem descending like a bride dressed for her husband. The passage we are studying sits at the center of this scene, explaining what the new city means: a world where God and his people live together without the things that once caused harm. The verses that follow describe the water of life and the destiny of those who overcome.
Revelation 21:3-5 Verse by Verse
Isaiah 25:8
He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord the LORD will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth, for the LORD has spoken it.
(WEB)
Isaiah looks ahead to a day when the Lord will swallow up death forever and wipe tears from every face. Revelation 21 echoes this promise, showing that the hope of the prophets reaches its full expression in the new creation.
Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us.
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Paul sets present suffering beside the coming glory and judges that the one is not worth comparing to the other. The reader of Revelation is encouraged to see present hardship in the light of the renewal that is promised.
A Prayer Based on Revelation 21:3-5
Father, you have promised that you will dwell with your people and be their God. Thank you that you do not keep your distance from us but make your home with those who belong to you. Draw near to me today, especially in the places where I am tired, grieving or afraid.
Lord, you have said that you will wipe away every tear and that death, pain and mourning will one day be no more. Hold me in the sorrow I carry now, and help me trust that you are making all things new. Keep my heart anchored in your faithful and true words. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Revelation 21:3-5 describe heaven or the new earth?
The passage describes the new creation, with God dwelling among his people in a renewed world. Many readers connect it with the final state of the redeemed, though the text itself focuses on God’s presence with humanity rather than on a particular location.
Why does the passage say there will be no more death?
The promise reflects God’s intention to undo the effects of sin, which the Bible describes as bringing death into the world. Revelation presents the end of death as part of the restoration of all things.
What does it mean that God makes all things new?
The phrase points to a thorough renewal rather than a replacement from scratch. Creation is not discarded but transformed, so that the new world is both continuous with the old and fully free from its corruption.
