“The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.”
“Heaven will be paved with streets of gold,” when I was growing up, that’s about all I heard about heaven. Back then, gold didn’t excite me but when I read that the foundation of New Jerusalem’s massive wall (1400 miles high and wide on every side!) is “decorated” with—the Greek says “adorned,” every kind of precious stone” (Revelation 21:19), I was overwhelmed. Wow, what colour! When the pure light of God shines on the gems, it will be glorious!
“The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ”
Over the years, I’ve researched the colours of the stones and found that some were different than what we think of today. In the first century “sapphire” was what we call lapis lazuli; Pliny the Elder, an author of the time, wrote that jasper was green! I drew colour swatches in the back of my Bible as a reference. Different sources sometimes describe the stones differently but I’ve put them together as I could, checking the Greek words for each stone.
Whichever gems they are, one thing I know--they will be stunning! I’ve spent years traveling around telling people that colour is good, because God made it for us. These walls are one more proof!