One of the more striking features of the New Jerusalem is its vast size. In Revelations 21:16, the angel measures the city with a golden rod or reed, and records it as being 12,000 stadia by 12,000 stadia at the base, as well as 12,000 stadia high. A stadion is usually stated as 185.4 meters, or 600 feet, so the base has dimensions of about 2225 km by 2225 km, or 1500 miles by 1500 miles. These measurements equate to an area of 4.9 million square kilometers, which is larger than the 3,892,685 km² of the 25 states of the European Union in 2005, but smaller than the 7,617,930 km² of Australia. It is 79% of the area of the Middle East which may have around 6,289,592 km². In the ancient Greek system of measurement, the base of the New Jerusalem would have been equal to 144 million square stadia. If rested on the Earth, its ceiling would be inside the exosphere. If the entire flat area of the foundation was supported by the Earth, a chord of 1500 miles would generate a trench on the Earth of about 71.6 miles deep at the very center of the base: . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jerusalem