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Revelation 21:21
ESV And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
NIV The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
NASB And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
CSB The twelve gates are twelve pearls; each individual gate was made of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.
NLT The twelve gates were made of pearls — each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass.
KJV 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.
NKJV The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

What does Revelation 21:21 mean?

Each of the twelve gates in New Jerusalem appears to be made of a single pearl. This is the source of the "pearly gates" cliché so often used to describe the entrance to heaven.

In ancient times pearls ranked as extremely valuable and rare gems. Modern pearl farming was not something available to the ancient world. One reason Caesar wanted to conquer Britain was to acquire its pearl-fisheries. The surface of most city streets today is either concrete or asphalt, but the streets of New Jerusalem are pure gold like transparent glass. Both the pearl gates and the streets of gold must bathe the city in a magnificent glow.

In 2018 the world's then-largest pearl known as "The Sleeping Lion," was sold at auction in the Hague, Netherlands, for $374,000 by the Amsterdam Pearl Society and purchased by a Japanese trader. It weighed about 5.4 ounces (153 g) and was 2.75 inches (70 mm) long. Given that value, it is mind-boggling to estimate the value of a pearl large enough to compose an entire gate in New Jerusalem! And the value multiplies greatly when we consider that all twelve gates are each made of a pearl.
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