A river flowed beside the tree of life. Eventually, this river was divided into four heads, flowing toward the four corners of the earth (Gen. 2:10-14). One of the four heads was the river Euphrates, which flows through the present country of Iraq. The river signifies the flow of God as life to bring forth three precious materials (vv. 10-14; Rev. 22:1-2a; John 7:38-39).
The first of the three precious materials was gold (Gen. 2:11b-12a), signifying God the Father's nature. The second precious material at the flow of the river was bdellium (v. 12b). It is formed from fragrant resin and signifies God the Son in His redemption. The third precious material was onyx, which signifies God the Spirit in His transformation (v. 12c). Gold, bdellium, and onyx were the three precious materials brought forth by the flowing of the river.
Immediately after His creation of man and after putting man in front of the tree of life, God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him" (Gen. 2:18). God then made a counterpart for Adam by putting him to sleep, opening his side, taking a rib, and from the rib building a woman (vv. 21-22). The woman became the counterpart, the second part, of man. The woman Eve was built with the rib out of Adam and returned to Adam to be one flesh with him as his counterpart.
Adam, the first Adam, typifies Christ, the last Adam, as the embodiment of God (Gen. 2:20b; Rom. 5:14b; 1 Cor. 15:45). Eve, who was built with the rib out of Adam and who returned to Adam to be one flesh with him as his counterpart, signifies the church, which came out of the side of Christ and returned to Christ to be one spirit with Him as His (the processed Triune God's) counterpart. This counterpart is the organic Body of Christ as His bride, consummating in the New Jerusalem, which is built with the processed Triune God as the gold, pearl, and precious stones (Rev. 21:18-21), which are typified by the gold, bdellium, and onyx in several portions in both the Old and New Testaments (Gen. 2:11-12, 21-24; Eph. 5:25-32; 1:22-23; Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9b-10).