Revelation 21:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

NIV: The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.

NASB: The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

CSB: The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold clear as glass.

NLT: The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.

KJV: And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

NKJV: The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

John observed that the wall of New Jerusalem is constructed of jasper. Verse 11 indicates the jasper is translucent. It may be a crystalline red. Because the wall is constructed of this translucent jewel, it must glow with brilliant color. The city appeared to John to be clear, pure, transparent gold. This gold is quite different from gold as we know it. The gold we know is solid and not transparent. Jasper, as well, is not literally clear. John's words here seem to be an attempt to describe the indescribable using terms most likely to be understood. This would be like a modern person describing something as a "ray of darkness," though everyone involved knows there is no such literal thing.

The point of John's description is this: the city glows with brilliant light, both dazzling red and shiny gold. Because God is glorious, the city reflects His glory. Earlier, John saw a vision of God on His throne (Revelation 4:3–4) and wrote that He had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, which is very similar to ruby. A rainbow circled His throne. This description portrays God and His throne as glorious, so we should not be surprised that the city He designs and builds is arrayed with brilliant colors.

Revelation 21:9–27 presents a description of the New Jerusalem. Interpreters disagree about whether this is a flashback to the millennial reign of Christ, or a description of the eternal state of the city. A flashback is not unprecedented in Revelation, occurring in chapters 11, 14, 15, and 17. However, some verses here clearly refer to eternal conditions, and most scholars take this as a depiction of the eternal, final heavenly city.

This chapter focuses on the New Jerusalem. This is not the earthly, historic Jerusalem of the tribulation (Revelation 11:2, 8). Nor is it the surviving Jerusalem of the millennium that serves as Jesus' capital (Revelation 20:9). It is the heavenly city referred to in Hebrews 12:22, whose designer and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10, 16). John attempts to describe the indescribable using analogies to precious gems and metals.

Leading up to this chapter, all sin and evil have been entirely defeated. Satan is banished to hell, along with every person who rejected Christ, as seen in chapter 20. Here, John describes the nature of the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city which descends onto earth after the ultimate victory over evil. Chapter 22 is a further description of this perfect eternity, and last messages from Jesus to those who read John's words.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''