Upon reflective reading of the Scriptures, one is struck by the prevalence of spatial and 
topological metaphors to refer to salvation. For example, consider the Pauline phrase “in Christ,” which typically uses the preposition ἐν in a spherical sense (cf. Col 1:16, 4, 14, 19; 2:6, 7, 9; etc.). Furthermore, Paul tells us that we are “seated with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6). The author of Hebrews similarly has all sorts of spatial reference with regards to Christ and believers. Needless to say, this is an easily overlooked aspect of New Testament theology. But we shouldn’t overlook this imagery, the spatial and topological language plays a key role in shaping our imaginative conception of what life in union with Christ is. More on that perhaps some other time.
On this score, I found a very interesting contrast between two “places” (τόπος), metaphorically conceived, that Scripture describes in John 14:2 and Acts 1:25.
First consider the familiar statement of Jesus in John 14:1-2, when he says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms (μοναὶ πολλαί). If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you (τόπον ὑμῖν)?” In the OT, God went before Israel into Canaan and prepared place for them (Deut 1:19-33). So too, here Jesus goes ahead of his disciples to prepare a “place” for them. But what does this mean? Note how John uses the word μονὴ, which means “room/abode,” in chapter 14: Jesus says there are many “rooms” (μοναὶ) in his Father’s house and uses the same word when he tells the disciples, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home (μονὴν) with him” (14:23). The two statements make sense when considered in light of Jesus’ promise that the Spirit will dwell in believers (cf. 14:7). Paradoxically, just as Jesus goes to prepare a place for the disciples in one of these “rooms,” God, through the Spirit, makes the believers his own “room.” This helps us make sense of what Jesus means when he says that he goes to prepare a “place” for us. As Köstenberger and Swain note, “the ‘place’ that Jesus prepares for the disciples is his filial place in the presence of the Father, the place where he has eternally basked in the Father’s love (1:1, 18; 14:3; 17:5, 24-26)” [Father, Son, and Spirit, 144]. The place Jesus prepares for us is the place of a son of God, possessed by the Spirit of Sonship. It is a place within the life of God himself.
In stark contrast, consider what Luke tells us when the disciples are replacing Judas with Matthias, “They prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place (εἰς τὸν τόπον τὸν ἴδιον)” (Acts 1:24-25). Whether this place is Judas’ “Field of Blood” or hell itself, the message is equally clear.
Jesus provides us with a place of eternal life, whereas Judas provides himself with a place of eternal death. This is inevitably the case when we remember the traditional concept of sin as homo incurvatus in se, literally “being turned in upon oneself.” There is thus a strong contrast between the place prepared by us and the place prepared for us, as there is between law and gospel; between those who kiss the Son (Ps. 2:12) and those who “kiss” the Son (Luke 22:48). The question facing each of us is whether we will “seek that which is above, where Christ is” (Col 3:1) or “seek that which is within” and succumb to the abyss of absolute interiority (Jer 17:9; Phil 2:3; Prov 18:1).
