Verse 18 says, “And the building work of its wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.” Here jasper is mentioned again. The appearance of the city is like the shining of jasper, and the whole wall is made of jasper. The city itself is gold, while the wall built upon it is jasper. When you look at the city from a distance, you do not see the gold. What you see is its jasper wall, for the whole appearance of the city is jasper. As we have seen, jasper stands for the appearance of God. Hence, the city is in the nature of God as gold, and the wall is in the appearance of God as jasper. The young people who are believers in Christ have God within them as the divine nature, the new nature, signified by the gold. I am sure that they have the divine gold within them, but I am afraid that many are barren gold with little of the shining jasper as the appearance of God built upon them. They have the gold, the divine nature of God, within them by regeneration, because when we are regenerated, we receive God as the golden nature. However, after regeneration we need to be built up by transformation to have something of the appearance of God shining as jasper. When you go to certain churches, you can realize that there is something built up that is shining all the time, something that is always attractive. The whole wall of the city is jasper. This means the whole appearance of the city bears the appearance, the likeness, of God. God appears as jasper, and this city also appears as jasper. So, this city has the appearance, the likeness, of God expressed through her.
Verses 19-20 say, “The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone: the first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.” The entire wall is jasper with twelve foundations, and all twelve foundations are precious stones. The first stone of the foundation is jasper, which is the same as the wall. If we consider carefully, we can see that the twelve stones are laid upon each other in layers. The twelve layers of precious stones as the foundation in their respective colors have the appearance of a rainbow. Verse 3 of chapter four says, “He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance.” The appearance of God in the universe is that of jasper with a rainbow around Him. When the New Jerusalem comes, there is the same picture-a city of jasper with a rainbow. Its appearance is exactly the same as the appearance of God.
The spiritual meaning of a rainbow is seen in Genesis 9:13-17, which says, “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.” The rainbow is a token of the everlasting covenant that God will never destroy His living creatures. Hence, the rainbow is a sign of God being the God of covenant, the God of faithfulness, who is faithful to keep the everlasting covenant. That the foundation of this city is a rainbow means that the city is built upon the faithfulness of God. It is a city that can never be destroyed because it is a city of the everlasting covenant of God. The New Jerusalem is a city which has the foundations (Heb. 11:10), and the foundations are the faithfulness of God, the everlasting covenant of God. The foundation of this city is like a rainbow which reminds us and God that we are safe, that we have eternal security. The city in which we will dwell is a city with a rainbow as the foundation to remind God that it is not lawful for Him to destroy it. He is not allowed to destroy it, and He is bound by His everlasting covenant not to destroy it.
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