Gold, Jewels, & Pearls, But the Greatest of These is Pearls

Dirt and Stone for Flesh and Bone - Part 10

Today, we continue our look at the final chapters of John’s visions in the book of Revelation as they relate to our series on heaven, which I’ve called Dirt and Stone for Flesh and Bone. I call it that because Scripture presents a straightforward but very different picture of the afterlife than what we are used to.

You see, encoded into our subconscious is the idea that eternity will be a non-material, wholly spiritual existence. But we know from Luke’s gospel that Jesus was resurrected in—and I’m quoting our Lord here—a “flesh and bone” body. Paul tells us in his writings that Jesus is the first fruit of the coming resurrection for all God’s people at the end of the age. If that’s so, then we will have flesh and bone bodies as well. Flesh and bone are meant to dwell on dirt and stone. This is why John describes a new “earth” in Revelation chapter 21 and not some ethereal plane.

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain. The first things passed away.” Revelation 21:1–4 (LSB)

This is familiar in that it’s a remade heaven and earth with trees and rivers and a city with streets and structures. But it’s also very unfamiliar. It’s a planet eternally free from suffering and pain, where goodbye does not exist because death has been vanquished. Beyond that, it’s where God takes up residence, merging the heavenly realm with our earthly one. Truly, all things are made new!

And this future, according to John, is reserved for thirsty conquerors.

5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then He said to me, “They are done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 “He who overcomes (or conquers) will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. Revelation 21:5–7 (LSB)

Those who thirst for the New World, those who are conquerors in Christ over the trails and tribulations of the old world, are certain to experience it because the sovereign God of the universe, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, has decreed it. It is the heritage of his children.

David, the king and poet of Israel, wrote of how the knowledge of God’s presence and providence in his life was,

6 This is too much, too wonderful— I can’t take it all in! Psalm 139:6 (MSG) emphasis mine

That’s how we feel looking forward to the new heaven and earth! And we’re not even done looking at it yet. Now, let’s pick back up where we left off last week, as an angel gives John more details.

9 Then one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God… Revelation 21:9–11a (LSB)

There’s some debate as to whether this city is literal or symbolic. In fact, there’s debate over whether the entire book of Revelation is to be interpreted literally or symbolically. The literalists have to admit portions of the apostle’s visions must be figurative (the beast rising out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads in chapter 13, for example). And the spiritualists — those who think it’s all allegory — must admit it’s preferable to have a physically resurrected Jesus returning to set up his kingdom on a newly redeemed, physical earth.

We must understand that Revelation contains both symbolic and literal truth. Where it’s obviously symbolism, see it as such. Where it’s not, take it literally. I’m confident that the New Jerusalem of the new heaven and earth is literal, though there may be some symbolism woven into John’s descriptions of it.

So, the Holy City, the New Jerusalem of the New Earth, radiates with God’s glory. John paints a picture of what that looks like.

11 …Her brilliance was like precious stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. Revelation 21:11b (LSB)

There is a holy brilliance to it that signifies more than just brightness. It’s more real and rich and vibrant than our old reality.

12 It had a great and high wall. It had twelve gates and at those gates, twelve angels; and names have been written on those gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Revelation 21:12–14 (LSB)

Ancient cities had walls. If it didn’t have a wall, it was a settlement. Walls were functional and practical in one sense, providing protection against enemies. They were statement makers in another. The bigger, wider, and more ornate the wall, the more powerful and prosperous the city. The Greek historian Herodotus praised the ancient city of Babylon, whose walls “[surpass] in wonder any city in the known world”¹ because they were 56 miles long, 80 feet thick, and 320 feet high. Impressive even by today’s standards. New Jerusalem's walls dwarf any city’s walls many times over, ancient or modern. Its gates are named according to the twelve tribes of Israel, and its twelve foundations according to the apostles. This shouldn’t be too strange to us since buildings and such bear the names of benefactors today. But this was even more so a practice in ancient Rome. One scholar writes,

Inscribing names on public structures mirrors Greco-Roman practice. Such inscriptions shaped a city’s identity and reflected its power structures. As Augustus refurbished Rome, he stipulated that the names of his sons were to be inscribed on the basilica and the name of his son-in-law on the theater (Augustus, Res 20–21). In Asia Minor, the inscription over the gate by the agora at Ephesus (4–2 BCE) read, “To the Emperor Caesar Augustus, son of the deified, high priest, consul twelve times, tribune twenty times,” and it named members of the imperial family and the benefactors who erected the gate (I.Eph 3006). The gate built at Laodicea in 84–85 CE was inscribed, “To Zeus most great, the savior, and to emperor Domitian Caesar Augustus Germanicus, high priest most great, exercising the authority of tribune for the fourth time, consul for the twelfth time, father of the fatherland” (I.Laod 24). Such inscriptions identify the city with the gods, rulers, and patrons of the empire.²

The original audience of John’s visions would have made the connection immediately. They had lived and suffered under the tyranny of emperors who inflated their status—along with family members—to the divine, inscribing such arrogance on buildings. Everywhere Christians went in the Roman empire, they saw this hubris. New Jerusalem, though, reflects the glory of the one true God almighty and his Son, the only Savior. In that city, you’ll see the names of Israel’s sons (one from whose line came the Messiah) and Jesus’ apostles (the ones who first preached the Gospel) inscribed on its architecture. What a comfort to weary Christians who had suffered so.

John gets specific with the city’s details.

15 And the one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and its wall. 16 And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, 12,000 stadia; its length and width and height are equal. 17 And he measured its wall, 144 cubits, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. Revelation 21:15–17 (LSB)

Convert the ancient measurements to our modern ones, and you get a city with walls roughly 1500 miles wide on four sides and 1500 miles high. Ancient Babylon would be embarrassed in comparison. We might be tempted to think this is an exaggeration, but we’re talking about the new heaven and earth here, the merging of God’s realm with ours. Wouldn’t we expect it to boggle the mind? I love what Randy Alcorn observes about this.

A metropolis of this size in the middle of the United States would stretch from Canada to Mexico and from the Appalachian Mountains to the California border. The New Jerusalem is all the square footage anyone could ask for…

We don’t need to worry that Heaven will be crowded. The ground level of the city will be nearly two million square miles. This is forty times bigger than England and fifteen thousand times bigger than London. It’s ten times as big as France or Germany and far larger than India. But remember, that’s just the ground level.

Given the dimensions of a 1,400-mile cube, if the city consisted of different levels (we don’t know this), and if each story were a generous twelve feet high, the city could have over 600,000 stories. If they were on different levels, billions of people could occupy the New Jerusalem, with many square miles per person.³

This sheds light on something we’ve all read and maybe misunderstood, something Jesus said to his disciples.

1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 “And you know the way where I am going.” John 14:1–4 (LSB)

Note, however, that we won’t likely stay there for eternity. We will start out in New Jerusalem, but over time, we will populate the new earth and return to the Holy City for festivals and such. More on that later.

As we move on, the details keep coming in all their splendor.

18 And the material of the wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass. 19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; 20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. Revelation 21:18–21 (LSB)

We zoom in on the gold and the jewels. We even have a joke about how gold is a most prized possession now, but in heaven, it’s pavement. We aren’t generally impressed by pearls, other than the fact that these are big enough to make a city gate. But in ancient Rome, pearls were all the rage among the royalty and nobility. They were more valuable than gold. Pearls “became the ultimate symbol of wealth, power, and prestige.”⁴ Julius Caesar made a law forbidding women beneath a certain rank to wear them because they were meant for “those of a designated position and age.” There’s even a legend that Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, convinced the Roman leader Mark Antony her kingdom was wealthier and more powerful than his by dropping a priceless pearl in vinegar and drinking it.

If God’s city uses pearls for gates, he wins, hands down. First-century Christians would have been awed by this. They also understood the underlying message. One commentator writes,

There may be symbolic significance to the fact that the twelve gates were twelve pearls (v. 21). Unlike the previously named gems, pearls are created organically. A rough grain of sand irritating the tissues of the oyster causes the secretion of a substance that transforms the source of irritation into a pearl. The pearl thus may stand for affliction turned to benefit, even as silver and gold refined by fire are used in Scripture for the same concept. The gates are the means of entry into the city. If the pearl is understood in this light, we have a picture of one of Paul’s preaching themes: “We must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).⁵

Next, John is struck by what is absent in New Jerusalem.

²² But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple. Revelation 21:22 (MSG)

This is surprising, considering how prominent the temple of God was in the old holy city. It was where his presence dwelled, he was worshipped, and sacrifices were made. It was the center of Jewish life and faith. What made the city holy was having God’s house there. Not having a temple in New Jerusalem must mean something. It does. Remember the measurements of the city? The city’s walls were four square, with their height the same as their width. That makes a cube. There’s only one other place a cube is mentioned in Scripture: the holy of holies in Exodus. That was the core of God’s sanctuary, where the Ark of the Covenant rested, God’s footstool.

In the new heaven and earth, God is not confined to a room in a temple; the city itself is his temple, a temple in which his people dwell and go in and out as they will. Which takes us back to,

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, Revelation 21:3 (LSB)

This is a fulfillment of something we are all familiar with, something the church has been reciting for two thousand years.

9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9–10 (LSB)

On the Last Day, his kingdom has come; his will is now done on earth as it is in heaven because they are one and the same.

Let’s close with the words of NT Wright in his commentary on these verses.

… [New Jerusalem] is not only vast in terms of its footprint—fifteen hundred miles each way, roughly the same number of square miles as the Roman empire. (That, of course, may be part of the point.) It is also fifteen hundred miles high… The city will be an enormous, perfect cube … because that is the shape of the holy of holies at the heart of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 6:20). The whole city has become God’s dwelling place, God’s temple. Or, more exactly, the very centre of God’s temple, the holy of holies, the place where God dwells for ever.

That is why the city ‘has the glory of God’ (verse 11). That doesn’t just mean that it’s a wonderful thing to look at, though tha——-t is clearly true as well. It means that God’s glory, God’s own glorious presence, is there, gleaming from every stone and jewel and shining from the pure gold of the street. And it is why, too, the city comes ‘down out of heaven from God’: this great new reality, the place of God’s dwelling on earth, can never be something that humans make (that takes us back to Babylon, to Babel!), but remains always and for ever the gift of God’s love and grace.

We are not surprised… that there is ‘no temple’ in the new city … We have already realized that God’s own dwelling in the city, and the shape of the city as a giant cube, are telling us that there cannot be a ‘temple’ as a specific place within the city where God lives. The Temple in [present] Jerusalem… [is an] advance [signpost] to that great, almost unthinkable reality to which nevertheless so much of the New Testament points, that ‘the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea’ (Habakkuk 2:14). That is the goal towards which so much of scripture is pointing, a goal forgotten by those who imagine that the whole aim is to leave earth behind and go to heaven instead. Heaven has come down to earth; why would we want it otherwise? We have the reality. We don’t need the signpost any more.⁶

1. https://www.ancient.eu/wall/

2. Koester, C. R. (2014). Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. (J. J. Collins, Ed.) (Vol. 38A, p. 829). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

3. https://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Feb/22/what-are-new-jerusalems-dimensions/

4. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2019/03-04/roman-republics-captivation-with-pearls/

5. Gregg, S. (1997). Revelation, four views: a parallel commentary (p. 496). T. Nelson Publishers.

6. Wright, T. (2011). Revelation for Everyone (pp. 194-198). SPCK; Westminster John Knox.