Revelation 21:21; The Twelve Pearls

Revelation 21:21 (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. 

The final descriptive word about the city’s exterior deals with her gates and her street – 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. 

“The twelve gates” are the same ones mentioned in v12-13, each gate being inscribed with the name of a tribe of Israel. These gate-towers consisted of “twelve pearls”, each get carved from a single large pearl (Swete).

Pearls were little known in the Old Testament (cf. Job 28:18), but were well-known among the Asiatic Greeks through their contacts with the Persians.

Job 28:18 (KJV)  No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies. 

One of the reasons Caesar tried to conquer Britain was the reports about its pearl fisheries. Among the ancients, pearls were ranked highest among precious stones, because their beauty derives entirely from nature, improvement by human workmanship being an impossibility (Lee). In New Testament times the dealer in good pearls was familiar on the roads of Galilee (Cf. Matthew 13:46).

Matthew 13:46 (KJV)  Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

The pearl was among the treasured ornaments of the wealthier class (cf. Matthew 7:6; 1 Timothy 2:9; Revelation 18:12) (Swete), and was one of the most valuable items in the Romans world.

Both here and in Revelation 22:2 the singular “street” refers to the city’s thoroughfare, city square, or multiple streets. The word “street” is an adjective meaning, “broad”, but its use alone implies the presence of “way” with it.

This may be a singular to refer to all the streets of the city, or it may point to only one major artery of a typical ancient city that led from the entrance gate to the king’s palace (Moffatt, Beckwith). It is more probable, however, that the term is generic, referring to the material the streets were made of.

Because the street will be continuous, even when it changes direction or joins with avenues coming from other gate-towers, it is only one and not many,

The entire city is gold (v18), but in particular this is the material that the street is made of. And it is not just a lower grade of gold; it is “pure”, so pure that it resembles “transparent glass”. The word “transparent comes from “through and “brightness”. It conveys the notion of transparency conveyed by”pure” in v18. Transparency results from purity (Swete, Lee). The old creation knows nothing of gold so pure.

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 473-474]