No problem, It is an interesting topic. Thanks for sharing your opinion. You are correct I do not believe as you do that God creating a new heavens and a new earth is symbolic at all. The reason is that other scriptures such as 2 Peter 3 sheds more light and understanding as to how God makes the new heavens and a new earth which IMO proves that this is not sybolic but a literal new heavens and a new earth. I believe the scriptures show that God will make the new heavens and new earth literally as outlined in Isaiah 65:17-19; Isaiah 66:22-23; 2 Peter 3:13; and Revelation 21:1 etc.
Let's have a look at what God's Word says in relation to how the new heavens and the new earth will be made that proves that this is a literal event and not symbolic (IMO).
2 PETER 3:3-13
[3], KNOWING THIS FIRST, THAT THERE SHALL COME IN THE LAST DAYS SCOFFERS, walking after their own lusts,
[4], And saying, WHERE IS THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
[5], FOR THIS THEY WILLINGLY ARE IGNORANT OF, THAT BY THE WORD OF GOD THE HEAVENS WERE OF OLD, AND THE EARTH STANDING OUT OF THE WATER AND IN THE WATER:
[6], WHEREBY THE WORLD (G2889 inhabitants) THAT THEN WAS, BEING OVERFLOWED WITH WATER, PERISHED (G622 literally destroy and die)
[7], BUT THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, WHICH ARE NOW, BY THE SAME WORD ARE KEPT IN STORE, RESERVED TO FIRE AGAINST THE DAY OF JUDGMENT AND PERDITION OF UNGODLY MEN.
[8], But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
[9], THE LORD IS NOT SLACK CONCERNING HIS PROMISE, AS SOME MEN COUNT SLACKNESS; BUT IS LONG-SUFFERING TO US-WARD, NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD , PERISH (G622 literally destroy and die), BUT THAT ALL SHOULD COME TO REPENTANCE.
[10], BUT THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT; IN THE WHICH THE HEAVENS SHALL PASS (G3928 παρέρχομαι persish) AWAY WITH A GREAT NOISE, AND THE ELEMENTS SHALL MELT WITH FERVENT HEAT, THE EARTH ALSO AND THE WORKS THAT ARE THEREIN SHALL BE BURNED UP.
[11], SEEING THEN THAT ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE DISSOLVED (G3089 λύω;luō means destroyed), what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
[12], LOOKING FOR AND HASTENING TO THE COMING OF THE DAY OF GOD, WHEREIN THE HEAVENS BEING ON FIRE SHALL BE DISSOLVED (G3089 λύω;luō means destroyed), AND THE ELEMENTS SHALL MELT WITH FERVENT HEAT
[13], Nevertheless we, ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISE, LOOK FOR NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH, WHEREIN DWELLS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Looking at some of the Greek word meaning here makes it very clear that this is a literal event and not symbolic IMO. I have added some sections in red (my emphasis) to some of the Greek word definitions in the scriptures above FYI. For example, 2 Peter 3:10. ἥξει δὲ [ἡ] ἡμέρα κυρίου ὡς κλέπτης] ἥξει δέ stands first by way of emphasis, in contrast to what precedes and what comes after: “but come will the day of the Lord.” These words express the certainty of the coming of the day of judgment, and ὡς κλέπτης its unexpected suddenness; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:2 (Matthew 24:43): τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμέρας, 2 Peter 3:12, shows that κυρίου is here also equivalent to Θεοῦ (not to Χριστοῦ; Schott). Also you will see the examples given before hand in 2 Peter 3:5-7 is in reference to the earth being destroyed by the flood and will be destroyed after the second coming again by fire.
ἐν ᾗ [οἱ] οὐρανοὶ ῥοιζηδὸν παρελεύσονται] This relative clause states “the event of that day, which makes it essentially what it is” (Schott). ῥοιζηδὸν, ἅπ. λεγ., equivalent to μετὰ ῥοίζου, is best taken in the sense peculiar to the word: “with rushing swiftness” (Wiesinger, Schott, Hofmann; Pape, s.v.); Oecumenius understands it of the crackling of the destroying fire; de Wette, on the other hand, of the crash of the falling together. With παρελεύσονται, cf. Matthew 24:35; Matthew 5:18; Luke 16:17; Revelation 21:1. As to how the heavens shall pass away, see 2 Peter 3:12.
How the heavens and the earth will pass away is explained in the v10 “the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth and the works therein will be burned up. How the heavens and earth will pass away is further explained in 2 Peter 3:12 “the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved (pass away) and the elements shall melt with fervent heat from fire. The passing away is by the fire which procedes it.
I believe the scriptures above are clear as to what it means and how God will make “a new heaven and a new earth” and how the old heavens and earth will pass away. The old heavens and earth will pass away and will be destroyed by fire. The ungodly (those who practice sin and do not believe and follow God’s Word) will be destroyed. The new heavens and the new earth according to the scriptures are only for the righteous (those who do not practice sin and believe and follow God’s Word) and only those who practice rightouesness will dwell in the new heavens and the new earth *2 Peter 3:13.
Finally you might also notice that 2 PETER 3 also comparing how the new earth is made to destroying the world with a flood and fire also links it directly to the "THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT" and "THE DAY OF THE LORD" *2 Peter 3:7-10. If you do a word study of the day of the Lord the scriptures link this to the "END OF THE WORLD" and the judgments of God. See also *Isaiah 2:12; Isaiah 13:4-6; Isaiah 13:9-11; Isaiah 24:21-22; Jeremiah 46:10; Zephaniah 1:14-18; Ezekiel 30:3-4; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1-2; Joel 3:12-14; Zephaniah 3:8; Amos 5:18-20; Revelation 6:15-17
This is why I believe that it is impossible the new heavens and the new earth references are symbolic. The scriptures show that this will be a literal event. God will make the new heavens and the new earth after destroying this one with fire as it was in the past by flood to put an end to ungodly men and women and it is why God is calling on all people everywhere to repent and believe his Word. He is not willing that anyone should perish *2 Peter 3:9.
Hope this is helpful
Thank you for your considered response and it is indeed satisfying to consider the lofty words communicated by the Prophets of old, Jesus Himself and His apostles. Its really helped a great deal to bring clarity to the OP topic at hand. I agree that the destruction of earth and heaven are not just symbolic and literal as well. So when Isaiah spoke it was ominous words as Jerusalem and the Temple would literally be destroyed by the Babylonians. So when Jesus spoke on His final Sermon as recorded in Matthew 24 He predicted the destruction of the Temple which we know happened 70 AD along with Jerusalem. So in both these examples both earth and heaven really did pass away suddenly and dramatically as if by a flood. However the Teachings of the Torah endured as did the Teachings of Jesus through the Gospels. So we would probably agree on a further event of series of events that would lead again to the passing away of earth and heavens. I'm sure we can agree the destruction of the Jerusalem and the Temple really did happen not just symbolically through the Babylonians and Romans. I suspect you may struggle to connect these events to some of the Biblical verses you have mentioned. If you agree some of the Biblical verses can be directly attributable to these two calamities we could apply some of the learnings from known history to what a further event may look like where God creates a "new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered".