Revelation 21:18-21

Last time the angel took John in the Spirit to see the bride of Christ, the wife of the Lamb — and what was described was a great and beautiful city, showing two truths at once: our future dwelling place with Christ, and the true nature of the bride. The church of Christ is the city of God. John described its shape, size, gates, and foundations; today we look at more of its details.¶

The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

Revelation 21:18 (ESV)¶

The walls — 216 feet thick and over a thousand miles high — are built of jasper, that red stone resembling blood. Jasper appears only seven times in the whole Bible: twice in Exodus, once in Ezekiel, and four times in Revelation, three of them in this chapter. Each Old Testament appearance has something to tell us; we will get to that. And the city itself is pure gold, like clear glass.¶

Pure gold — refined and tested¶

Just as the old temple built by human hands was made or covered in pure gold, this city is the purest gold — and that points to what God is doing in us. Gold is unique among metals: it resists corrosion and oxidation, so it does not fade, rust, or decay; its symbol "Au" comes from the Latin aurum, "shining dawn"; it endures extreme heat before it melts; it is not magnetic, so other things do not stick to it; it is so reflective that no light penetrates it — it appears bright even in dim conditions; it is one of the densest elements, heavy and hard to move; and it is among the most malleable metals, able to be shaped, stretched, and hammered without ever breaking. The city of God is made of it for a reason: spiritually, this is what we are made of. Like gold, we are tested, purified, and refined. "He is like a refiner's fire... he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver" (Malachi 3:2-3). "The tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:3-7). God's work in us is refining and purifying, so that we become a material fit for his glory.¶

The jewels — priests forever, and the glory Satan lost¶

The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.

Revelation 21:19-20 (ESV)¶

The first two Old Testament mentions of jasper are in Exodus, where God describes the ephod — the breastpiece of judgment — set with twelve stones bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. This city is adorned the way the priest of old was, showing that we are priests of God forever. The third mention is in a message for the king of Tyre that is also a message for Satan himself: "You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering... jasper, sapphire, emerald... and crafted in gold were your settings" (Ezekiel 28:13). That passage is a judgment over Satan for his sin. So the city of God covered in these very stones is also a reminder against him: he is no longer covered in them but cast out and destroyed, while the believers he worked so hard to destroy are now covered in them instead. The glory he desired, we have been given.¶

The pearl — our story¶

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

Revelation 21:21 (ESV)¶

Each gate is a single pearl. Scripture does not say how large the gates are, but with walls so massive, the pearls — and the creatures that would form them — are beyond imagining; the scale alone is staggering. And consider how a pearl is made: a small foreign grain enters the oyster, which surrounds the irritant and, over time, covers it layer upon layer until it becomes a pearl. That is the process of salvation. We enter in through the word of God, and what we once were — dust, dirt, an irritant — is covered over and over by something more beautiful and strong, until what was of little value is made precious in the sight of God. Jesus told a parable of a merchant searching for fine pearls who, "on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it" (Matthew 13:45-46). We are the pearl God sold everything to purchase; Christ gave himself up for us, that we would be made like him. So like a pearl, when we enter in we are transformed into something of great value. This city is us. This is our story, our history, our future. This week, let us prayerfully ask the Lord how he desires to refine and transform us — what ugly areas he wants to coat in his truth and beauty, what impurities he wants to bring to the surface and scrape away to make us more useful, and in what ways we are hindering or avoiding that process.¶