Significance of Jerusalem

Ostensibly the Holy City of David, Jerusalem at a distance is "beautiful, white and proud," standing on double-peaked Mount Zion, its palaces and towers glistening, and dominated by the gold, cedar, and marble Temple. Up close and as a symbol, however, Jerusalem is depicted throughout the novel as "inhuman," a great whore defiled by the Romans and by the Jewish officials who fawn over them. John the Baptist convinces Jesus that Jerusalem, along with Babylon, Alexandria, and Rome, are to be destroyed by fire and pestilence. Jesus looks forward to a New Jerusalem rising on its ashes.