Gemstones in the New Jerusalem

Which gemstones will be used to construct a new location for God's throne? Why do lists of these precious stones sometimes vary? Why is each of them labeled with the name of one of the apostles? Can we tell which gemstone will be used to immortalize each of Jesus' disciples?

Why a New City?

Why will a new Jerusalem be created with many precious and semi-precious gemstones?

There will come a day when the devil, his demons, and all those humans who refuse to repent, receive the ultimate penalty of non-existence (Revelation 20:10 - 15, 21:8). All those who practice sin and evil will be removed from both the physical and spiritual realms. Those who are alive will be immortal righteous spirit beings (21:3, 7, 24, 27).

The last issue that remains to be tackled is the effects sin has left upon God's creation. His solution will be to "reboot" or create a perfect universe and earth that will replace what previously existed. He will also personally make a new Jerusalem, utilizing many fabulous gemstones, that will last forever.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:1 - 2, HBFV).

Manuscript Illumination of New Jerusalem

1645 A.D.

The new city, using gemstones for its gates and foundations, will be where God the Father and Jesus Christ will place their thrones. Their presence will make new Jerusalem the spiritual headquarters of all that exists!

And I heard a great voice from heaven say, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men; and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people; and God Himself shall be with them and be their God . . ."

And I (John) saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. (Revelation 21:3, 22, HBFV).

How Big Is It?

The New Jerusalem created by God will be a perfect cube. It will have a length, width and height of 12,000 furlongs (Revelation 21:16). This biggest skyscraper in history will be, using modern measurements, 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) square!

The walls of the city, with its foundations of gemstones, will be 144 cubits thick (Revelation 21:17) or between 204 to 252 feet thick (or 62 to 77 meters).

Which Gemstones Are Used?

The Greek words from which Bible translators derive their list of gemstone foundations used in the New Jerusalem, including the Strong's Concordance number for each, are the following.

And the building of the wall of it was of jasper (iaspis, Strong's #G2393): 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 (iaspis, #G2393); the second, sapphire (sappheiros, #G4552); the third, a chalcedony (chalkedon, #G5472); the fourth, an emerald (smaragdos, #G4665);

The fifth, sardonyx (sardonux, #G4557); the sixth, sardius (sardios, #G4556); the seventh, chrysolite (chrusolithos, #G5555); the eighth, beryl (berullos, #G969); the ninth, a topaz (topazion, #G5116); the tenth, a chrysoprasus (chrusoprasos, #G5556); the eleventh, a jacinth (huakinthos, #G5192); the twelfth, an amethyst (amethustos, #G271).

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls (margarites, #G3135); every several gate was of one pearl (margarites, #G3135): and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. (Revelation 21:18 - 21, KJV).

Was It Possible?

Revelation 21:21 states that the streets of new Jerusalem will be made of pure gold that seems transparent. Is this possible? Nanowires of gold can be created with the width of a single atom! This precious metal can be stretched so thin that it becomes semi-transparent and able to have light pass through it. Visors in heat-resistant suits use a thin coating of gold to protect against infrared light.

Varying Lists

Bible translations can vary in regard to how they interpret the Greek names used for the twelve gemstones on which the city will be built (Revelation 21:19 - 20). The New International Version, for example, lists the sixth foundation stone as carnelian instead of the KJV's sardius. The English Standard Version lists the third foundation stone as an agate, the fifth as onyx, and the sixth as carnelian.

Biblestudy.org's research on the gemstones has determine that those that will be in the New Jerusalem will be, in order, a jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, carnelian, chrysoprase, beryl, chrysolite, topaz, jacinth and amethyst. Please see the links at the bottom of this page to investigate each gem!

How Are the Names Listed?

Each of the twelve gemstones used as foundations in the new Jerusalem will be engraved with one of the names of the apostles. God will do this as an eternal memorial to those who were the foundation of the New Testament (New Covenant) church.

And he (an angel) carried me (the apostle John) away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God . . .

And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and written on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Revelation 21:10, 14, HBFV).

Gemstones in New Jerusalem

Revelation, unfortunately, does not reveal the sequence of names used to label the gemstone foundations.

In our article on the High Priest's breastplate, we noted that evidence exists that its gemstones were engraved in the birth order of Jacob's (Israel's) twelve sons. This principle can be used to create a plausible sequence of apostles based in the order they were personally called by Jesus and given a chance to become a Christian and one of his special witnesses.

The Bible does record the order in which the first seven disciples were called by Christ. They were, in order, John and Andrew (John 1:35 - 39), then Peter (verses 40 to 42), Philip (verses 43 to 44), Nathanael (Bartholomew - verse 45), James (the brother of John - Matthew 4:21 - 22) and Matthew (Matthew 9:9).

The five remaining disciples, who were likely called close together in time sequence, are Thomas, James (James the Less), Judas (brother of James the Less), Simon the Canaanite (Simon the Zealot) and Judas Iscariot.

Since James the Less, Judas (brother of James) and Simon the Canaanite were brothers, their calling may have occurred very close to one another. Because of his suicide after betraying Jesus, Judas was eventually replaced in his position as one of the apostles by Matthias (Acts 1:15 - 26).

Gemstones and the Apostles

Are the Gates Real?

Adam Clarke's Commentary makes a rather puzzling comment on Revelation 21:21. It states that New Jerusalem's gemstone gates could not be composed of actual pearls since it would be possible to create them naturally!

"The twelve gates were twelve pearls - This must be merely figurative, for it is out of all the order of nature to produce a pearl large enough to make a gate to such an immense city."

God, of course, is not limited to creating gemstones like pearls from natural processes! He was fully capable of creating and adorning Lucifer with spiritual versions of gemstones before he created the physical universe (see Job 38:4 - 7, Ezekiel 28:12 - 13). Since God himself is creating New Jerusalem, the ability to create pearls at whatever size is needed is no problem!