Will we need homes?
Why would we need homes in Eternal Heaven? We will have physical resurrected bodies(Isa. 26:19; Dan. 12:2-3; 1 Cor. 15:12-58; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6). As a result, we would need places to ourselves to call home.
Famous line from Jesus
Before being crucified, Jesus told Peter this
In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:2 KJV)
This one verse tells us a few details.
Today, a house having many mansions sounds strange. In this verse from the King James Bible the word “house” refers to Heaven and the word “mansions” means dwelling. Other translations use the word “rooms” instead of mansions. This verse is saying Heaven has many dwellings or rooms. How many? Rev. 7:9 mentions an uncountable number of people in Heaven.
In this verse Jesus also said a place will be prepared just for you. We all have our idea of an ideal house. Some of us like big houses with as much square feet as possible. Others don’t like big houses and are happy with condos or townhouses. We will receive a place just for us.
What will they be like?
We receive an inheritance in Heaven that is imperishable(1 Pet. 1:4). This could apply to our homes. On New Earth there will be no more curse, so houses will not be subject to wear and tear. This includes no weathering or deterioration of paint or walls.
What kind of rooms will the homes have? The Bible says we will have friends visit our eternal dwellings(Luke 16:9). We will likely have a living room for this. What about a bedroom for resting? Rest is implied(Heb 4:1-11; Rev 14:13). A dining area for eating fruit from the vineyards(Isa. 65:21) is also possible.
New Jerusalem
New Jerusalem is a city, and cities have homes among other things. Many homes will be in this city. How many will there be? If we say all the buildings in the city are single story, each home has a generous 5,000 square feet assigned and New Jerusalem is only 1,400 X 1,400 miles, we could fit 10 billion+ homes in there with room to spare for the streets and other places.
New Jerusalem is also made of gold that is transparent(Rev. 21:18). Will we still have privacy if the walls of our homes are transparent? The book of Revelation says we will be given a white stone with our adopted name(Rev. 2:17) that is only known to God and the recipient. This implies some degree of privacy.
Outside of New Jerusalem
Will there be houses outside of New Jerusalem? The Bible says glory and honor will be brought into New Jerusalem from the nations(Rev. 21:26). These nations would need places for people to stay. Scripture also says we will build houses(Isa. 65:21). We could even build homes on other planets.
Our building abilities will be improved as well. We will have resurrected bodies, so our minds and bodies will be better and unhindered by the problems we face today. We can’t begin to imagine what we will build.