Revelation 22:1: And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

The same angelic guide from Revelation 21:9¹ showed John a pure river of water of life in the celestial city of holy Jerusalem in Revelation 22:1.² The image of this river must have been a welcome contrast to the parched city of Jerusalem that John knew so well.³ John could not mistake the meaning of this river of ... life since he was present when Christ offered living water to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in John 4.⁴ This river is the water people can drink and never thirst again.⁵ Living water is a common metaphor in the scriptures⁶ in many different contexts.⁷

The pure river of water of life in the celestial city is more than a metaphor. It is the ultimate antitype for the literal life-giving waters of two great rivers.⁸ The first river of life-giving water⁹ flowed from the Garden of Eden,¹⁰ which separated into four great heads as it grew in volume.¹¹ A second river will flow from the foundation of the temple in Jerusalem¹² when the millennium begins.¹³ The water in this second river will also grow in volume as it flows toward the Jordan River¹⁴ and then heals the waters of the Dead Sea.¹⁵ These two typological rivers are literal,¹⁶ and they foreshadow the literal water in the pure river of water of life in the celestial kingdom.¹⁷ The physical elements of water in the celestial river will still exist after they are resurrected.¹⁸ The physical water and spirit combined in the celestial river are typical of the physical element and spirit combined in glorified bodies of resurrected humans.¹⁹

The light of Christ²⁰ is the Holy Spirit of God²¹ that gives life to the pure river of water²² to make it living water.²³ This living water will flow like a fiery stream²⁴ from the throne of God and of the Lamb²⁵ to give the fulness of life, light, and glory²⁶ to everything in the celestial kingdom.²⁷ When the living water flows from the throne, the volume of water will increase like the typological rivers from Eden in the beginning and the temple mount in Jerusalem at the Second Coming.²⁸ This imagery illustrates how the glory of God increases²⁹ through the glorification of his exalted children.³⁰ John described this process in Revelation 21:24, when he said that exalted kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into the celestial city.³¹

God's exalted children become a new source of living water that springs up to eternal life³² for their spirit children.³³ In this way, the volume of water in the pure river of water of life will infinitely increase as God's children and their children's children have glory added upon their heads forever and ever.³⁴ The Doctrine and Covenants calls this doctrine the "continuation of the lives."³⁵ John metaphorically describes this doctrine as a river of light, and glory that increases in volume³⁶ as it flows continuously³⁷ from the throne of God and Christ in the celestial kingdom.³⁸ People unworthy of the continuation of the lives in the celestial kingdom will metaphorically drink from a small seasonal stream that goes dry or, even worse, a stagnant pool with unclean water.³⁹

John states that the living water in the celestial river is clear as crystal.⁴⁰ Thus, it is completely pure, although many manuscripts omit the word pure in their description of the celestial river.⁴¹ The river could not be otherwise,⁴² however, because the water flows out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.⁴³ The Father and the Son occupy the same throne as an emblem of their oneness,⁴⁴ even though they have separate glorified bodies.⁴⁵ They also retain their ordered place within the Godhead in the celestial kingdom.⁴⁶

Revelation 22:2: In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

In John's vision of the celestial kingdom, the throne of God and of the Lamb is located in the midst of the street.⁴⁷ From this location, the celestial river flows from the throne in the middle of the street,⁴⁸ with multiple trees of life on either side.⁴⁹ The trees stand like rows of columned pillars in the temple.⁵⁰ Some scholars say the one street in this verse alludes to the strait and narrow path that leads to a single tree of life.⁵¹ However, the river actually branches and flows through multiple streets in the celestial city⁵² similar to the typological river that flowed from the Garden of Eden and split into four great heads.⁵³

The tree of life (living wood)⁵⁴ alludes to the tree that God planted in the midst of the Garden of Eden.⁵⁵ Prior to their fall, Adam and Eve were immortal⁵⁶ and they freely ate the fruit from the one tree of life in the garden.⁵⁷ They could not do so after the fall,⁵⁸ however, because they would have lived forever in their sins.⁵⁹ Fortunately, once Adam and Eve repented and were cleansed by Christ's atonement the way was opened for them to again eat the fruit from the tree of life.⁶⁰ This means they could enter the celestial kingdom and enjoy everlasting life.⁶¹ The prophet Lehi had a dream where he saw a single tree of life that also represented eternal life⁶² and the love of God.⁶³ The tree of life also represents Jesus Christ⁶⁴ in several ways,⁶⁵ including the power of his atonement to raise people to immortality and eternal life.⁶⁶ The tree of life satisfies spiritual hunger as the river of water of life satisfies spiritual thirst in Revelation 22:1.⁶⁷

The tree of life in John's vision represents eternal life that overcomers⁶⁸ receive through the atonement of Jesus Christ.⁶⁹ However, in John's vision there are many trees of life⁷⁰ located in rows on either side of the river.⁷¹ The one tree of life from the garden of Eden that typified Christ⁷² multiplied into many trees⁷³ because Christ's atonement makes it possible for all people to become trees of life like Christ who is the tree of life.⁷⁴ The multiple trees of life represent people⁷⁵ with eternal lives (plural) that increase⁷⁶ in the same way that living waters increase in the pure river of water of life in Revelation 22:1.

The trees of life in the celestial kingdom produce twelve different fruits with a new variety each month, for a total of 144 different fruits each year.⁷⁷ Some scholars say, however, that John merely saw twelve crops of the same fruit each year to symbolize the perennial bounty of heaven.⁷⁸ This restrictive view is not consistent with the broader symbolism of eternal increase⁷⁹ portrayed by the many trees of life and increasing water in the celestial river. Eternal increase is the continuation of the lives⁸⁰ that occurs when exalted husbands and wives⁸¹ have spirit children⁸² and experience a fulness of joy.⁸³ Exalted people⁸⁴ eat the fruit from the tree of life⁸⁵ and then bring forth their own fruit in abundance.⁸⁶ The twelve fruits represent the twelve tribes of Israel.⁸⁷ They yield new fruit every month as a symbolic representation of spirit children that will be born continuously in succeeding generations of spirit offspring.⁸⁸

The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations,⁸⁹ which also represent the power of Christ's atonement.⁹⁰ The leafy branches extend from the tree like wings to match the image of Christ, who rose from the dead with healing in his wings.⁹¹ The healed nations are from the tribes of Israel that pass through the twelve gates of the celestial city, but do not qualify for exaltation as kings and queens as mentioned by John in Revelation 21:24.⁹² These unexalted angels of the nations⁹³ will be saved in the celestial kingdom,⁹⁴ but they do not eat the fruit of the tree that represents eternal life.⁹⁵ Thus, unexalted Israelites will be healed⁹⁶ by metaphorically eating the leaves of the tree of life⁹⁷ and this allows them to enter the celestial kingdom.⁹⁸ However, they cannot eat the fruit of the tree to become like God⁹⁹ and have eternal life.¹⁰⁰ The lesser measure of their celestial glory¹⁰¹ symbolically comes from the healing leaves on the tree of life.¹⁰²