In a Full Preterist understanding, Galatians 4, Isaiah 65–66, Romans 8, Matthew 24, and Revelation 19–21 can be read together as describing the transition from the Old Covenant order to the New Covenant order.
In Galatians 4:21–25, Paul uses Hagar and Sarah to represent two covenants. Hagar corresponds to Mount Sinai and the present Jerusalem, which is in bondage with her children. This earthly Jerusalem represents the Old Covenant order.
The Old Testament repeatedly portrays Israel as God's wife or bride. Israel's covenant unfaithfulness ultimately brings judgment upon that covenant relationship and upon earthly Jerusalem.
Paul contrasts the earthly Jerusalem with another Jerusalem:
“But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” — Galatians 4:26
The heavenly Jerusalem represents the New Covenant order. Paul immediately connects this Jerusalem with Isaiah's promise concerning a barren woman who would suddenly have many children.
Therefore, the New Covenant people have a different covenant mother: Jerusalem above.
Isaiah 66:7 presents a remarkable picture:
“Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.”
The birth occurs before the labor pains. In a Full Preterist interpretation, this can represent the emergence of the New Covenant through Christ. The Cross establishes the New Covenant, while Pentecost publicly manifests the new covenant community as thousands are brought into it.
The important distinction is between birth and manifestation. The New Covenant is established through Christ, but its people and blessings become increasingly manifested as the Old Covenant age approaches its conclusion.
Romans 8 adds another important piece to the birth imagery. Paul says:
“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” — Romans 8:19
Paul then says:
“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” — Romans 8:22
This language of creation groaning and travailing closely parallels Isaiah's birth imagery and Jesus' description of birth pains in Matthew 24.
The picture can therefore be understood as a covenantal birth followed by a period of travail while creation awaits the full manifestation of the sons of God.
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is poured out and thousands enter the New Covenant community. The children of the free Jerusalem begin multiplying, and the gospel begins spreading throughout Israel and eventually to the nations.
The New Covenant community therefore exists before the final judgment of the Old Covenant order. The new is growing while the old is approaching its end.
Jesus describes the approaching first-century crisis in Matthew 24 using language of increasing distress: deception, persecution, wars, famines, earthquakes, and tribulation.
These are described as the beginning of birth pains. This provides another connection with Isaiah 66 and Romans 8. The New Covenant has been brought forth, while the old covenant age experiences the travail associated with its approaching judgment.
The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70 marks the decisive historical transition from the Old Covenant age to the fully manifested New Covenant order.
The earthly Jerusalem associated with the old covenant is judged, while the heavenly Jerusalem continues as the covenant mother of God's people.
Following the judgment imagery, Revelation 19 announces:
“The marriage of the Lamb is come.”
The timing is significant. The judgment of the old covenant order is followed by the announcement of the Lamb's marriage.
The Bride coming in is therefore contrasted with the covenant order that is being judged and removed.
Revelation 21 presents the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven:
“Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
Later, the angel tells John:
“I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.”
John is then shown the holy Jerusalem coming down from heaven. Thus Revelation identifies the New Jerusalem with the Bride.
This connects beautifully with Galatians 4:
The same heavenly Jerusalem can therefore be understood in both maternal and bridal imagery. She is the covenant mother from whom the children come, and she is also identified with the perfected Bride of the Lamb.
The overall picture can therefore be understood as a transition between two covenantal orders:
Old Jerusalem → Old Covenant Bride → Cross → New Covenant established → Heavenly Jerusalem gives birth → Pentecost → Children multiply → Creation groans → Matthew 24 birth pains → Sons of God manifested → AD 70 judgment → Revelation 19 marriage of the Lamb → Revelation 21 New Jerusalem revealed as the Bride and heavenly Mother.
In this reading, Scripture is presenting one great covenantal transition. The Old Covenant Bride is going out, while the New Covenant Bride is coming in. The New Covenant people are born through Christ, grow through the Spirit, and are progressively manifested while the old covenant world undergoes its final travail.
The Cross begins the decisive transition, Pentecost reveals the growing New Covenant community, the birth pains accompany the final period of the Old Covenant age, and AD 70 brings that age to its covenantal conclusion. Revelation then presents the New Jerusalem as the fully revealed Bride of the Lamb.