First, Revelation 20 and 21 have already described the “lake of fire” as the final destiny of those who don’t follow Jesus in this life. There’s nothing in Revelation that suggests there’s hope on the other side of the lake. Second, there’s nothing in the text that says the lake of fire is intended to purify the wicked. On the contrary, the judgment scene in 20:11–15 explains that the lake of fire is for punishment.19 And third, even after the open-gates passage of 21:24–26, John goes on to depict two different destinies for believers and unbelievers:
