Those pearly gates. . .

People joke about the “pearly gates” and “streets of gold” without any idea where those ideas came from. They are actually in a description of a city in the Bible, the “new Jerusalem” that will come down from heaven after Jesus returns and this world is destroyed. It is said to be holy, having the glory of God, with light like jasper (a perfect diamond) and clear as crystal. The walls have twelve gates and twelve foundations adorned with all kinds of precious stones.

“The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass” (Revelation 21).

These awesome precious stones are mostly minerals from the earth, except for pearls. Pearls are formed when an oyster is wounded. The life of the oyster reacts to produce layers over whatever invaded it and the result is a pearl.

In Matthew 13, Jesus mentions another pearl. “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

One of great value . . . Jesus is talking about Himself. He is the pearl of great price. Like a pearl, it is through His wounds that life was released and death was conquered. Even though this figure of speech is used in Revelation to represent the twelve tribes of Israel, there is no escaping that the pearls are also a reminder of the wounded Messiah. Because of His death and His life, He is the gate, the door, the way into the heavenly city, the kingdom of God.

In my mind I’m imagining a normal city wall might be twenty or thirty feet high. Revelation describes this city as a perfect cube nearly 1500 miles on each side. That means the gates could be that size also, certainly not the normal size of a pearl. My study Bible says, “These gigantic, supernatural pearls will remind (God’s people) throughout eternity of the magnitude of Christ’s suffering and its eternal benefit.”

I’m thinking that wearing pearls could be another reminder, just as some wear a symbol of a cross. However, I have one better than that—my middle name (a name that I’ve never liked before this morning) is Pearl.