When Zechariah asked the young man with the measuring line (2:2), "Whither goest thou?" he answered, "To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof." But quickly came the admonition of an angel, "Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein."
The angel's message to the prophet of a city without walls or boundary lines was not a new idea. Abraham had caught a glimpse of spiritual reality and had "looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebr. 11:10). But it was not until the coming of Christ Jesus that men began to understand the true significance of Jerusalem as the city of God.
Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is a mental realm, a spiritual atmosphere, where divine harmony is present. He lamented the people's materialistic views of Jerusalem and yearned to give them a better understanding of the spiritual nature of God and man and of man's peaceful abiding place in this spiritual realm. He said to all who would hear him (Matt. 25:34), "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
