I'm not so sure about that. The new testament constantly talks about the church as the bride of Christ, but, since it is full of humans, and taking another analogy, the vine, there are branches that need to be pruned.

THE church exists, and it is us, but most of the various denominations are abominations these days and, yet again, it starts to come down to the individual, as it seems to have always been.

I'm not particularly sold on there needing to be a large, contiguous, samey-same body of followers of Christ.