The
Gates of Pearl
How many stories or attempts at humor
have you heard that make reference to the 'Pearly Gates'? Many
preachers, as an evangelistic appeal, employ a question similar to the
following: “If you arrive at the Pearly Gates, and God asks why he
should let you in, what would you say?” A lyric in one of George
Strait's most popular songs (“Love Without End”) says: “Last night I
dreamed I died and stood outside those Pearly Gates.” The song attempts
to pay
tribute to the Father's love for sinners, which we all appreciate. But
its lyrics are a theological disaster. The love of the Father for us
sinners was demonstrated when he offered up his Son for our sins 2000
years ago on the cross. No man or woman who has believed on Jesus will
ever have to stand outside those gates. No unbeliever who has rejected
Jesus in this life will ever have the opportunity to see those gates,
much less stand outside them. Moreover, there are twelve of those
gates, not just one.
While the phrase “pearly gates” has
become common in America's religious parlance, there is almost nothing
biblical about it. Neither the phrase “pearly gates” nor the word
“pearly” are anywhere found in scripture. The word “pearly” is an
adjective. It means 'pearl-like' (resembling a pearl in luster, color).
Its primary usage is to describe objects that are not pearls, but have
'pearl-like' qualities, such as 'pearly' white teeth. The proper
biblical nomenclature for these gates, which belong to the new
Jerusalem, is: “The Gates of Pearl.” They are mentioned in Revelation
21:12-13; 21; 25 in a context where time is no more and God ushers in
eternity with descent of the new Jerusalem from a new heaven to a new
earth.
There are twelve gates of pearl:
three on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on
the west (21:12-13). The eastern gates are mentioned first inasmuch as
the single entrance to the tabernacle in the wilderness faced east.
There is an angel posted at each gate. On each gate is inscribed the
name of one of the twelves tribes of Israel. These truths signify that
Jesus, the Lamb of God, whose glorious Person is the city's single
light source, is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the King of the
Jews, a faithful God, the seed of Abraham, a keeper of his covenant
with Abraham and Abraham's seed. Three gates each on the four sides of
the city signify the universal appeal of the gospel, the believing of
which is the sole credential for access.
The city of new Jerusalem lies
foursquare; the length, the breadth and the height being
fifteen-hundred miles (21:16). If we assume the gates are equidistant,
they are five-hundred miles apart. At first blush, that sounds like
quite a trek from one gate to another. But for residents with glorified
bodies, the very thought of moving from one gate to another will make
it so. The wall that surrounds the city stretches for six thousand
miles and is two-hundred sixteen feet high (21:17). I therefore take
the gates to be the same height as the wall—216 feet. Each gate is ONE
SOLID PEARL (21:21). The engineering aspects of these gates boggle the
mind. What is the weight? How thick are the walls and gates? How wide
are the gates? What are the structural requirements for the hinges upon
which the gates hang? Since there seems to be a suspension of
gravitational law, perhaps the gates just stay in place of their own
accord. And since the gates never shut (21:25), what would be the need
for hinges in the first place?
The
volume of the new Jerusalem, a cube measuring 1,500 miles, is 3.375
billion cubic miles, which consists of 216 billion cubic quarter
miles. It is estimated that the total number of people that
have
ever been born is about 107 billion. If every human who ever lived
experienced the saving grace of God, each of them would have an abode
in the new Jerusalem equivalent to 2 cubic quarter miles. Would that be
enough room for you? The magnificence of the new Jerusalem
testifies to the bountiful provision Jesus made for the
sinners for whom he died, which was that estimated 107
billion! Oh
what grace!
The gates of pearl will never shut by
day; for there's no night (21:25). Gates exist for two reasons: one is
for ACCESS (open gates). The other is denial of access (shut
gates). After Noah and family entered the ark, scripture says: “the
LORD shut him in” (Genesis 7:16). The door God shut (1) delivered Noah
and family from the Flood waters, and (2) excluded unbelievers and
scoffers. The perennially open gates of pearl on the walls of new
Jerusalem signify eternal ACCESS for the people of God. This is
consistent with the great gospel truth of ACCESS by faith into the
grace of Christ (Romans 5:2), ACCESS to the Father by the Spirit
through the Son (Ephesians 2:18) and ACCESS with boldness and
confidence by faith in Jesus (3:12). The gates of pearl will serve as
an eternal monument to the gospel of grace! The church age invitation
of “Whosoever will!” will no longer apply as the access to the streets
of gold will be reserved for “Whosoever did!”
There are two facts about pearls that
are instructive. The first is the iridescent quality of pearls. A pearl
can give off various hues of color, much like a rainbow, depending on
the angle with which light strikes it. Now imagine these twelves gates
of iridescent pearl, 216 feet high, being struck from behind by the
Shekinah glory emitted by the Lamb of God in the midst of the city. Can
you picture those gates of pearl taking on hues of red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo and violet, visible for thousands of miles and
morphing from one color to the next as your point of view changes? The
gates of pearl will be an awe-inspiring sight as they refract the light
of the Lamb from behind the gates!
The second fact about pearls is their
origin—irritation. When an oyster (mollusk) becomes host to some sort
of foreign substance (invasive parasite or grain of sand), it begins
producing a substance called 'nacre' as a defense mechanism. Nacre is a
mineral the oyster excretes to coat the invader. It normally takes
about three years of irritation and excretion for a pearl to reach
marketable size. It is my opinion these gates of pearl represent the
thousands of years of history in which the RIGHTEOUS have been a source
of irritation for the UNRIGHTEOUS. Abel irritated Cain; Lot irritated
the residents of Sodom; Samson irritated the Philistines; David
irritated Saul; John the Baptist irritated Herod; Jesus irritated the
scribes and Pharisees; Steven irritated the unbelieving Jews at
Jerusalem; the apostle John was a source of irritation for the Emperor
Domitian. The twelve gates of pearl surrounding the new Jerusalem will
serve as an eternal monument to the triumph of the righteous over the
unrighteous, whom they irritated.
In Matthew 13:45-46, Jesus told this
kingdom parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man,
seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price,
went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” In my mind, the only
interpretation that makes sense is one where the Father is the merchant
man, the pearl of great price is the Church and the currency for
purchase is the precious blood of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Show
me a pearl of great price, and I'll show you one that required a great
deal of irritation in the making! In Psalm 8:4, David asked: “What is
man, that thou art mindful of him?” The kingdom parable of Jesus
answers that question. A lost man is worth ALL the Father had to redeem
him from the curse of the Law and the bondage of sin! Would it
therefore be accurate to say the new Jerusalem contains thirteen
pearls—twelve existing in its walls and one walking on its streets?
The sheer magnitude and magnificence
of the new Jerusalem is mind-boggling. It's just so difficult for a
human to wrap his mind around its immensity. Yet the God of all grace
has provided us a glimpse into what lies ahead for those who believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Access through these gates of pearl, like every
aspect of our salvation, is a gift of grace that no sinner can earn. In
this age, one can secure his or her access to those gates by responding
in faith to the invitation: “Whosoever will, let him come!” The Father
then seats the believer in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:6).
When Almighty God ushers in eternity, and the new Jerusalem descends
from the new heaven to the new earth, access to the gates of pearl will
belong to: “Whosoever did!”
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