The Jewels Of Heaven

The ruby is trigonal.

And so on for 7 different types. 7 is God's perfect number, and He created all jewels to fall into 7 categories, which reveals His love for order, which is part of the beauty of His creation. Beauty and order will characterize the eternal environment of the New Jerusalem.

Jewels have always been a sign of favor, and therefore, it makes sense why the Bride of Christ would receive the most elaborate jewels the universe has ever seen. This royal rainbow of 12 colors encircling the Bride is a fitting symbol of the King's love for this one He has chosen to be His eternal Queen. In England, when the Queen is crowned at her coronation, the ArchBishop of Canterbury pronounces these words, "O God, the Crown of the faithful, who on the heads of Thy saints placed crowns of glory, bless and sanctify this crown, that as the same is adorned with divers precious stones, so this Thy servant wearing it, may be replenished of Thy grace, with the manifold gifts of all precious virtues, through the King Eternal, Thy Son and our Lord, amen."

If the precious stones are symbolic of the precious grace of God, that bestows on the wearer, His virtues, then the Bride of Christ is endowed with infinite grace and virtue, making her worthy to be the everlasting Queen of the new heaven and earth. When God wanted to convey to His people Israel that His love, as her husband, would never cease, He used jewelry to convey this idea of permanence. In Is. 54:11-12 God says, "I will build you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with sapphires. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels and all your walls of precious stones."

The Old Testament imagery of jewels makes it clear what the jewels of heaven mean. They are symbolic of the fact that the Bride of the Lamb need never fear divorce or separation. God is committed to eternal love. He will not tire of this Bride anymore than He will tire of His eternal love for precious stones. I would love to see the model that has been made of this jewel-ringed Bride. And eminent English jeweler displayed it in London. One who saw it wrote, "Though, to some minds, the Johannine description seems grotesque and incoherent, the remarkable thing was, that when the various elements of the description were gathered together into a unity, a singularly beautiful and charming model was the result,--a model which gathered round it's thousands of distinguished critics, who pronounced it about as perfect a reproduction in precious stones, pearls, gold, and crystal as it was possible for human hands to frame."

If man can make a model so beautiful, what will the reality be like, made by the Master Jeweler Himself. Some of these jewels could very well be the very ones that beautified Lucifer before he fell. The church will be victor over all the powers of Satan, and she will possess the very beauty and power that he lost.

But again, the question comes, is there any practical value in all of this? God says we are to live by every word that proceeds out of His mouth. If He has given us hundreds of words dealing with jewels, we can count on it, there is practical value in the study of jewels. Paul urges us in Phil 4:8, to think on things that are pure, lovely, and admirable. Why? Because the Christian who has a focus on the beautiful will be a better reflection of the beauty of heaven, on earth. Show me the happiest Christians, and I'll show you people who think about lovely things. So, the first practical value of jewels is their psychological effect. They are examples of order and beauty that motivate us to lives of greater order and beauty. The more you look at the things God loves and appreciates, the more you adore the God who loves such loveliness.