The distinct identity of every person in this vast crowd is maintained. They are from every tribe, nation, and language. The distinct individuality of every one of God’s people is preserved. What makes us different no longer divides.

This speaks directly to the question: Will we know one another in heaven? Yes! You will still be you. We will all be like Christ, but each of us will reflect His likeness through our own individuality.

That means we will know one another in the resurrection. The disciples knew and recognised Jesus in His resurrection body. But even before Jesus returns and we receive our resurrection bodies, we have good reason to believe that the same will be true of us.

Seven witnesses from the Bible point to our knowing one another in heaven, and at least some of them point to believers knowing one another immediately after death.

Witness #1—David and his son: “Now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Sam. 12:23).

King David had a little boy who died in infancy. When the boy died, David said, “I shall go to him.” There’s more here than David saying, “I will go to heaven when I die.” He says, “I will go to the boy! I will see him! I will be reunited with him in heaven.” That is a wonderful assurance for every Christian parent who loses a young child.

Have you ever wondered if we will recognise and know one another in heaven?

God will shelter—literally, spread His tent—over His people. Imagine a massive piece of canvas that will be shaped into a tent. He shakes it out so that it falls over all His people, in a way that none of them are outside. It is the most beautiful picture of inclusion.

Where do you feel completely at home? Where is the place you can say, “This is where I belong”? That feeling is a foretaste of what you will experience in the presence of the Lord. Some people struggle to feel at home in this life. Some don’t feel completely at home in the church or in their own families. Some don’t feel at home in their own bodies.

Whatever your struggles are in this life, if you are in Christ, the day will come when you know that you are completely at home. When God spreads His tent over you, you’ll say, “This is where I belong! I was made for this place!”

To be at home means that you will be yourself. In heaven you will find yourself saying, “I am more myself than I have ever been before.”

In heaven, you will serve the Lord as you always wished you could. You will be at peace with yourself as never before. You will be at peace with all your brothers and sisters in Christ, and you will be at peace with God. You will be at home.

Where do you feel most at home in this life? How might that be a foretaste of being at home in heaven with God?

John sees a vast crowd—in the immediate presence of Jesus Christ—standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They are dressed in white robes that speak of complete purity. They have palm branches in their hands—a symbol of victory. These people are celebrating total victory, which they ascribe to God Himself.

What they are experiencing there in heaven is very different from what we are experiencing here on earth. We live this life in a fallen world where God is dishonoured, righteousness is spurned, and evil casts a shadow of pain and destruction. We are up against the pull of the flesh. The direction of that pull may change, but the struggle it brings never goes away. And we have an enemy—the devil—who, though he can never finally succeed against us, will never give up.

So, we continue to live a life of repentance and faith. Repentance, because we never get beyond the awareness of our own sins and failures. Faith, because we walk by faith and not by sight. And we do these two things with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The Christian life is a struggle, but it will not always be so. John sees believers in the presence of Jesus. They are celebrating victory. Their long struggle is over. Their battle has been won.

How might this glimpse of eternity encourage you to persevere in faith today?