Jeremiah 31:38

"Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that the city shall be built to Jehovah from the tower of Hananel unto the gate of the corner. And the measuring line shall go out further straight onward to the hill of Gareb, and shall turn about unto Goah. And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto Jehovah; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever."

Although the name of "the city" to be rebuilt here unto Jehovah is not mentioned, there can be little doubt that Jerusalem is meant; but it is not the old Jerusalem; it is the New Jerusalem, "The Jerusalem which is above, which is our mother" (Galatians 4:24). There are many Old Testament passages which speak of this "rebuilt" Jerusalem, revealing many differences between the old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem that cometh down out of heaven from God. It will be a city without walls; and, as this passage shows, it will be much larger than the old Jerusalem. Also, it shall, as Dummelow noted, "embrace vast areas that were once considered unclean."[18] This, of course, is a symbolical way of showing that the Gentiles shall be included in the inhabitants, along with Jews, and members of all nations.

Another difference between the old and the new Jerusalems is that there is no promise here of the rebuilding of the temple. Jeremiah had indeed prophesied the destruction of the temple; but the New Jerusalem needs no temple. God's people themselves are the "temple" (1 Corinthians 3:16).

We shall conclude the discussion of this great chapter with the following paragraph from C. F. Keil.

"This image of the New Jerusalem forms a very suitable conclusion to this chapter, which combines in one view both the deliverance from exile and the redemption by the Messiah. It announces the formation of the New Covenant in its beginnings when the Christian church was founded, but at the same time points to the completion of the kingdom of God under the new covenant, in order to show the whole extent of the salvation which the Lord prepares for his people who return to him."[19]