In the eyes of God, there are only two worlds: one signified in the Bible by the earth, the other signified by the sea. The Gentiles belong to the sea-world and the Jews belong to the earth-world. Both Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 reveal that the Gentile world is a world of the sea. The treasure hidden in the field, that is, in the earth, refers to the kingdom with Israel. The pearl refers to the church. Thus, the treasure is the kingdom, and the pearl is the church. Both are eventually for the kingdom. The fish drawn out of the sea in an unregenerate condition, some good and some bad, represent the Gentiles. This parable refers to the conclusion of the Gentile world at the end of the age. When the Lord Jesus returns, there will be the Jewish people, the church, and the Gentiles. The real Jewish people are a treasure in the eyes of God. The church is a pearl in His eyes. The remainder of humanity, the Gentile world, are classified as the fish of the sea. At the end of the age, the angels will gather them to the Lord Jesus, and He will exercise His judgment upon them.
If the Jewish people are represented by the earth and the Gentiles are represented by the sea, where is the church? The church is neither of the earth nor in the water, but something which came out of the water. A pearl is formed by an oyster living in the death water, in the world of death. A small rock enters into the oyster, hurting it and wounding it. The oyster then secretes a life juice which covers the rock. This secretion of the life juice over the tiny rock produces a pearl. The pearl is then taken out of the water as something precious. We can all see the spiritual meaning of this parable. The living oyster is the Lord Jesus who came into the water of death. We are the little rock that wounded Him. After wounding Him, we stayed at the cross, remaining at His wound. Then His resurrection life was secreted, covering us again and again, and making us a pearl. We have been taken out of the water, and we belong neither to the earth nor to the water. Thus, we are a peculiar people, and we are in a very peculiar position (1 Pet. 2:9). We are a people who belong neither to the earth nor to the sea. We are pearls which have been taken out of the waters of death.
When God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to Mount Sinai, He told Moses that He would take them as His peculiar treasure above all the people in the earth (Exo. 19:5). Psalm 135:4 also tells us that God chose Israel to be His own peculiar treasure. These verses prove that in God's eyes the Jews are a peculiar treasure to Him. In Matthew 13:44 the treasure is mentioned again, showing that the Jews, as God's treasure are also a part of the kingdom. This parable says that a treasure was hidden in a field, that a man found it, and after finding it, he hid it and sold all that he had to buy the field. The Lord Jesus is the man who came and found the treasure and then hid it. He first presented the kingdom to the Jewish people, but because they rejected Him, the Lord hid it, concealing it from the unbelieving Jews. After discovering and hiding the treasure, the Lord Jesus went to the cross to sell all He had to buy not only the treasure, but the whole field. He redeemed the whole earth for the sake of the treasure. The treasure in the field signifies the kingdom with the true Israel. In Revelation 21 and 22 the New Jerusalem contains not only the names of the twelve Apostles, but also the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There are precious stones and pearls, representing Israel and the church.
God has gained some people from the Jewish race as a peculiar people and a peculiar treasure in His eyes. He has also gained some people from the Gentile world. Through the death and resurrection of Christ and through the secretion of the life of Christ, these people from the Gentile world have become the pearl. God has put these two peoples together to produce a city, the New Jerusalem, which is composed of the precious stones and the pearls.