What is so beautiful about heaven is not simply the fact that the effects of the curse (sin, death, and misery) are no longer present; what makes heaven truly heaven is the fact that God Himself is present there.

What will our next home be like? Many people know the joy of living in the same place for most of their lives. Others, like my wife and me, have experienced the providential adventure of moving many times. She was a missionary kid and a pastor’s kid. Her family traveled the country in a van, lived in many states, and spent years in Europe as missionaries. I grew up as a military kid, and every few years the Marine Corps loved us and had a wonderful plan for our lives, which meant constantly moving us someplace new. After getting married, my wife and I lived in many places together (mostly school related), and it was not until we had been married fourteen years and were in our late thirties that either one of us had lived in the same place for more than four years. We have wondered many times, “What will our next home be like?”

For the Christian, this question is very real and immensely practical. Whether we have lived in the same home for many years or wandered about like windswept nomads, we are all a pilgrim people. No matter where on earth we live, life slowly and effectively teaches us that this world is not our home. As the old hymn “Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus” goes, “The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”

Few examples in the Bible demonstrate this pilgrim perspective better than the life of God’s people, particularly Abraham and Sarah, as described in Hebrews 11:13–16:

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

The unique emphasis of these verses is the life of Abraham and Sarah. Though they are part of the “hall of faith” that includes Abel, Enoch, and Noah, Enoch did not die, and only Abraham and Sarah were called to leave one homeland in search of another (v. 15). The author of Hebrews is highlighting a particular point of tension in the life of Abraham and Sarah: They died “not having received the things promised” (v. 13). There is a certain irony in this statement. In fact, it seems almost contradictory to the facts. God had promised several things to Abraham: a people (children), a place (the promised land of Canaan), and a kingly descendant, One through whom the nations would be blessed.

At first blush, it would seem that by the time Abraham died, these promises were, in many ways, already fulfilled. Isaac was born (albeit when Abraham and Sarah were one hundred years and ninety years old, respectively). Other sons were born to Abraham, and it appears as though the promise of innumerable descendants was already bearing fruit. Abraham and Sarah also found their way, by God’s leading, to the land of Canaan, as God had promised. And though Isaac bore no kingly role, it was clear that the hand of God was on him and that God’s plan for him was not simply to bless him but to bless others through him. This is so often how it works with God’s people then and now: He blesses us not simply for our sakes but so that we might also be a blessing to others. From a human point of view, God had done what He said He would do; He had kept His promise to be a blessing to Abraham.

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