John sits on a rock viewing the descent of the Holy City of Jerusalem from the clouds of heaven containing the sun and the moon. At the left, in a half mandorla amidst clouds, the “voice from the throne”, who is represented as an angel appearing out of a mandorla, announces God's words that he will make all things new. After the disasters and afflictions that have been and will be imposed on humanity over the centuries, described earlier in the Apocalypse, God will create a new heaven and a new earth where suffering will come to an end and he will “wipe away all tears from their eyes, and death shall be no more, nor mourning nor crying nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away”. This event heralds the peaceful and spiritual conclusion of the last two chapters of the Apocalypse. The poses of John and the angel and the architectural structures of the Holy City are almost identical to the English Lambeth Apocalypse. The scene is set against a purple diaper ground and the border bar linking the ornamental initials has a small animal at the top and a bird at the bottom.
“And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold: the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people, and God himself with them shall be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and death shall be no more, nor mourning nor crying nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away'. And he that sat on the throne said, 'Behold: I make all things new'. And he said to me, 'Write, for these words are most faithful and true'. And he said to me, 'It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. To him that thirsteth I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that shall overcome shall possess these things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters and all liars, they shall have their portion in the pool burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death”. (Apoc. 21: 2-8)
