Serving in the city of God

Chapter 11 of Nehemiah is about people. It's another list of many hard-to-pronounce names, and it doesn't tell us much beyond that. But from this list, we gain a vision of a city repopulated, complete with leaders, priests, workers, and singers. The people are getting back to work to do life together and to worship God together. This repopulation points to the church of Christ, where we all function in various roles to do life together; and the church points to the new heavens and new earth, which, while complete with glory and beauty, will be inhabited by people redeemed from every tribe, tongue, and nation.