In that day when the church is manifested in millennial glory with Christ, the world will know this wondrous fact, that “the glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them” (John 17:22). It is the glory which God gave His Son, as man; not the incommunicable glory, which belongs to the Lord Jesus, in the Godhead — this never can be given. But the glory which the Son of Man has acquired, on the ground of redemption, He can and does share with His blood-bought bride. But He says more. “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). We shall see that glory, and more than that, we shall also appear with Him in glory. You and I, as sinners, are unfit for that glory, but then in Romans 5:1-2 we get, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” We are now made perfectly fit for it, through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ; then we shall possess and enjoy it.
“Her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal” (Rev. 21:11). The jasper stone is used in Scripture for that which is expressive of the glory of God (Rev. 4:3) which can be seen by the creature. “The building of the wall of it was of jasper” (vs. 18). Her wall (vs. 18) and first foundation (vs. 19) are jasper. The glory of God is the foundation and protection as well as the light and beauty of the heavenly city, for the church is glorified, with Christ, in the glory of God. She belongs to God. The Christian is born of God and has the divine nature imparted to him, through the new birth. Only what is the fruit of grace is visible in this chapter; all is “clear as crystal.”
The Gates
The city is divinely secure also, for it “had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. ... And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (vss. 12-14). Another has said, “It has twelve gates. Angels are become the willing doorkeepers of the great city, the fruit of Christ’s redemption-work in glory. This marked the possession too, by man, thus brought, in the assembly, to glory, of the highest place in the creation and providential order of God, of which angels had been previously the administrators. The twelve gates are full human perfectness of governmental administrative power. The gate was the place of judgment. ... There were twelve foundations, but these were the twelve apostles of the Lamb. They were, in their work, the foundation of the heavenly city. Thus, the creative and providential display of power, the governmental administrative power, and the church once founded at Jerusalem are all brought together in the heavenly city, the organized seat of heavenly power. It is not presented as the bride, though it is the bride, the Lamb’s wife. It is not in the Pauline character of nearness of blessing to Christ. It is the church as founded at Jerusalem under the twelve — the organized seat of heavenly power, the new and now heavenly capital of God’s government.”
The Angels
The place which angels hold here is interesting. They are now, and have ever been, the servants of the saints, as we read, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb. 1:14), and when the church is seen in effulgent glory, they will be delighted to be the doorkeepers of the heavenly city. God, too, does not then forget His earthly people (Israel), nor the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The world is not to forget that the twelve apostles who served the Lord and suffered in the earthly Jerusalem are they who, by their ministry, founded the heavenly Jerusalem, and thus it is only seemly that the names of the apostles should be found in the twelve foundations of the city. In Ephesians we are told that we “are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2:20-21), which has its full answer in the new Jerusalem.
The city is alike vast and perfect, measured and owned of God. “He measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal” (vs. 16). It was a cube. Now a cube is the most perfect figure, being equal on every side — the expression of perfection. I do not say it is divine perfection, but it is divinely-given perfection, and therefore it is spoken of as a cube. The Spirit of God delights to show the absolute perfection of the place in glory which the saints have before God on the ground of divine righteousness.
The Wall of Jasper
“The building of the wall of it was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass” (Rev. 21:18-21).
Again to quote the words of another, “The city was formed in its nature, in divine righteousness and holiness — gold transparent as glass. That which was now, by the Word, wrought in and applied to men below was the very nature of the whole place (compare Eph. 4:24). The precious stones, or varied display of God’s nature, who is light, in connection with the creature (seen in creation, Ezek. 28:13; in grace, in the high priest’s breastplate, Ex. 28:15-21), now shone in permanent glory and adorned the foundations of the city. The gates had the moral beauty which attracted — Christ in the assembly, and in a glorious way. That on which men walked, instead of bringing danger of defilement, was itself righteous and holy; the streets, all that men came in contact with, were righteousness and holiness — gold transparent as glass.” Gold all through Scripture is divine righteousness. White linen is practical human righteousness. When the bride puts on the white raiment (Rev. 19:8), it is her practical righteousness. If you were to put a little bit of white linen into the fire, it would soon be destroyed, but put a bit of gold in, and it stands the test. That is the whole point. Gold is divine righteousness, and you and I stand before God on the ground of divine righteousness, in Christ.
The Precious Stones
As we have seen, we have these precious stones in Scripture three times. In the Garden of Eden they are seen in connection with creation; then in Exodus 28, where they are seen in the breastplate of the high priest, it is evidently a question of grace for a failing people. But when we see these same stones in the foundation of the heavenly city, the thought suggested is permanent glory. Those stones of varied hue bring out the varied qualities of God, made known through His people. There will be different rays of His glory reflected through them, illustrated by these different precious stones, which are the emblems employed to set forth the luster of God’s saints in heavenly glory, and the way in which He displays the varied beauty which He sees in them. It would be an immense pity if all the saints were like a cartload of bricks — all the same shape and color. Just as there are not two leaves of the forest alike, so there are not two saints of God alike. All are alike in being saved by grace, but all are different in the expression of that grace.
W. T. P. Wolston (adapted)