How beautiful is heaven? Revelation 21 answers that question in the language of jewels. The apostle John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, and he described its wall, foundations, gates, and street one by one. Revelation 21:18-21 stands at the heart of that description. A string of unfamiliar gemstone names appears here, but this list is not decoration. It is a message, because it gives us a visible language for how glorious the dwelling God has prepared for his people truly is. This city is not somewhere floating above our heads right now; it is the dwelling that comes down to the new heaven and the new earth on the last day, where God will live with his people (Revelation 21:1-3).
Today’s Memory Passage — Revelation 21:18-21 (WEB)
The English Scripture quotations in this article are from the World English Bible (public domain).
18 The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass.
19 The foundations of the city’s wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation 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, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst.
21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
(Revelation 21:18-21, WEB)
What the Jeweled City Says — Four Points for Meditation
1. A city of pure gold like pure glass — Spotless glory
No gold on earth, however pure, is clear like glass. Yet the city John saw is recorded this way: “The city was pure gold, like pure glass.” (Revelation 21:18, WEB) It was a reality too great to be fully contained in earthly language, and so this paradoxical expression was used. It is the place where no sin or darkness is mixed in at all, where the glory of God fills everything with light.
John reveals the source of that light just a few verses later: “The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:23, WEB)
Even the jasper of the wall is not a random choice. In the New Testament, jasper (Greek ἴασπις) appears only four times, all in Revelation, and its first appearance is at God’s throne. The one sitting on the throne “looked like a jasper stone and a sardius” (Revelation 4:3, WEB). New Jerusalem, too, is described as “having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it was a jasper stone, clear as crystal” (Revelation 21:11, WEB). The radiance of the One on the throne shines in the wall and in the first foundation (Revelation 21:18-19). In the end, the beauty of the city is the beauty of the God who dwells in it.
2. The jewels of the twelve foundations — A list that recalls the breastplate
This list of twelve precious stones is not unfamiliar to readers who know Scripture. The high priest’s breastplate also held twelve stones in four rows, each engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel (Exodus 28:17-21). Set the two lists side by side in the World English Bible and eight names appear in both: jasper, sapphire, emerald, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, jacinth, and amethyst. Because translations render ancient gemstone names differently, we cannot match every stone one to one, but the picture of twelve jewels set alongside the names of God’s people clearly carries over.
God gave this command about the breastplate: “Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before Yahweh continually.” (Exodus 28:29, WEB) The high priest carried the people’s names over his heart as he came before God.
In New Jerusalem, those names are built into the very structure of the city. Written on the twelve gates are “the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel” (Revelation 21:12, WEB). Of the twelve foundations John says that there were “on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb” (Revelation 21:14, WEB). Paul, too, told the church that they were “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 2:20, WEB). Just as the breastplate carried the names of the people, the whole people of God, represented by the tribes of the old covenant and the apostles of the new, are gathered into one city.
3. Each gate one pearl — A gate opened by grace
Each of the city’s twelve gates is one whole pearl. “The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl.” (Revelation 21:21, WEB) A pearl is not a jewel cut from stone and stacked up; it grows inside a shellfish. The picture of a single pearl becoming a whole gate reminds us again that this is not a city raised by human hands. Hebrews explains what Abraham waited for while living in tents: “For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:10, WEB) The way into that city was not paved by human merit either.
And those gates will not be shut. “Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there),” (Revelation 21:25, WEB). Yet it is not a place where just anyone enters. “There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Revelation 21:27, WEB) A gate that stands open, yet remains holy: that is the two-sided character of the gospel’s invitation.
4. The city Isaiah saw beforehand — The fulfillment of promise
This jeweled city does not first appear in Revelation. God had already promised his afflicted people through Isaiah: “You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, and your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.” (Isaiah 54:11-12, WEB)
In the WEB, the sapphires Isaiah promised for the foundations reappear among the foundations of New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:19-20). The promise given to a people tossed by storms is fulfilled in New Jerusalem in a fuller and more complete form. God’s promises are always fulfilled, no matter how long they seem to take.
The Background of the Passage — A New Heaven and a New Earth, and the Bride-City
Revelation 21 opens with the words “I saw a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1, WEB). The first heaven and the first earth pass away, and the holy city, New Jerusalem, comes down out of heaven. John writes that it is “prepared like a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2, WEB). The angel says, “Come here. I will show you the wife, the Lamb’s bride.” (Revelation 21:9, WEB) and then shows John this city.
In the end, the beauty of the city is the beauty of God’s people, who have become the Lamb’s bride. That bride did not make herself beautiful. Revelation says of God’s people: “They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood.” (Revelation 7:14, WEB) To memorize this list of jewels is to memorize how precious God holds his people, washed in the blood of the Lamb.
Why Memorize This Passage?
First, because it becomes an anchor of hope. On the days when visible realities crumble, the picture of New Jerusalem engraved on the heart helps us hold fast to the truth that our story does not end here.
Second, because it relativizes earthly values. In that city, the street people walk on is pure gold. What is counted most precious on this earth is pavement there. The one who memorizes this passage will see wealth differently.
Third, because it is a word we can bring out in moments of funerals and consolation. Believers who have gone before us are now with Christ (Philippians 1:23), and on the last day they will meet the Lord together with the believers who remain (1 Thessalonians 4:17). This is the promise that will be fulfilled in that city: “He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more…” (Revelation 21:4, WEB). For the believer who has sent a loved one on ahead, this passage brings comfort greater than any explanation.
How to Memorize It — Wall, Foundations, Gates, Street
- Revelation 21:18 — The wall and the city: Jasper wall, golden city, pure glass. Memorize it with these three phrases.
- Revelation 21:19-20 — The twelve foundations: Do not try to memorize everything perfectly at first. First learn the framework of twelve foundations adorned with all kinds of precious stones, and then attach the stone names in three groups of four: jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald / sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl / topaz, chrysoprasus, jacinth, amethyst.
- Revelation 21:21 — The gates and the street: Twelve gates, twelve pearls; each gate one pearl; the street pure gold like transparent glass. Finish with this rhythm.
- Tie the beginning to the end: The golden city of Revelation 21:18 and the golden street of Revelation 21:21 are both described as being like glass. Remember that the first and last verses frame the passage with the same picture, and the four verses hold together as one.
Meditation Questions for Application
- Am I truly living with the hope of New Jerusalem, or am I pouring my heart only into building a city on this earth?
- When I think of a city whose pavement is gold, what are the things I am clutching so tightly worth in the end?
- The pearl gates are open, yet only those written in the book of life enter. Am I praying with particular people in mind whom I should invite inside those gates?
- As I pass through a season shaken by storms, what comfort does the promise of Isaiah 54:11 bring to me now?
References
- YouVersion — Korean Revised Version, Revelation 21 (in Korean)
- YouVersion — Korean Revised Version, Revelation 4 (in Korean)
- YouVersion — Korean Revised Version, Exodus 28 (in Korean)
- YouVersion — Korean Revised Version, Isaiah 54 (in Korean)
- YouVersion — Korean Revised Version, Hebrews 11 (in Korean)
- BibleHub — Strong’s Greek 2393 (ἴασπις, jasper)
- BibleHub — Revelation 21:19 Parallel Translations