Verse 19 says, “The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone.” This verse and the next list the names of twelve precious stones, which are the twelve apostles of the Lamb, each of whom is signified by a precious stone. When Peter, the first of the twelve apostles, was brought to the Lord, the Lord changed his name to Cephas, which means “a stone” (John 1:42). Later, the Lord called him by this name when He spoke concerning the building of His church (Matt. 16:18). Precious stones are not created, but are transformed from something that has been created. All the apostles were created as clay, but they were regenerated and transformed into precious stones for God’s eternal building. This regeneration and transformation is required of every believer who will be a part of the New Jerusalem.
The foundations of the wall of the city are of twelve layers. Once again, the number twelve shows the completion in God’s eternal administration. The first layer is jasper, indicating that the likeness of God is the predominant appearance. The first layer of the wall’s foundation, as well as the entire wall of New Jerusalem, is built with jasper. This indicates that the main material in the building of the holy city is jasper. Since jasper signifies God expressed in His communicable glory, the main function of the holy city is to express God in bearing His glory (v. 11).
Now we must consider a very important matter regarding the twelve foundations. Although the entire wall is jasper, the twelve foundations are different stones with various colors. Each layer is different from the others. The reason for this is that the apostles had different ministries. Paul’s ministry was different from Peter’s, and Peter’s was different from John’s. However, these twelve foundations are not laid side by side; rather, they are laid one on top of another. The top layer, the layer that met the bottom of the wall, was jasper, the same color as the wall. Thus, all the work of the apostles issued in the same appearance, jasper. All twelve layers lead to and support the unique testimony in the unique expression.
The work of many so-called Christian workers leads to an individualistic appearance. But the work of the apostles led to one appearance. Today’s Christian workers not only have different colors; instead of being one on top of another, they are side by side. Thus, they have an individualistic expression, sometimes even with competition and striving with one another. The work of the apostles, on the contrary, was layer upon layer and led to the unique appearance of jasper, the appearance of God in Christ.
If you examine the ministries of the apostles in the New Testament, you will see that each ministry was upon the top of another, not side by side. In his book, What Shall This Man Do? Brother Nee describes the various ministries of the apostles. Peter, a fisherman, brought in the fish, the material. Paul, a tent maker, built up the tent with the materials brought in by Peter. Eventually, after the tent had been torn, the apostle John came in to mend it. Thus, Peter’s ministry was a fishing ministry, Paul’s was a building ministry, and John’s was a mending ministry. These three apostles worked one on top of the other. Paul’s work was upon Peter’s, and John’s work was upon Paul’s. As a result, they produced one building, not three distinct houses. Unlike Peter, Paul, and John, today’s so-called Christian workers all build up their own houses, each with its own design, shape, color, and expression. Therefore, in Christianity there are thousands of different houses. But in the entire universe there will only be the unique New Jerusalem, built upon the foundation of many ministries laid one on top of the other. May this matter become crystal clear to us.
By the Lord’s mercy, I can testify that I worked with Brother Nee for many years, but I do not bear an appearance different from his. I have the assurance and the boldness to say that my ministry is the same in appearance as Brother Nee’s ministry. No matter how much the enemy uses the opposers to attempt to separate me from him, I am now standing upon his shoulders. For this reason, in our ministries there was no division or differing opinion. But this does not mean that my ministry is exactly the same as Brother Nee’s ministry. If the Lord delays His coming back, I hope that some of the young brothers among us will be the continuation of the Lord’s recovery. However, we must realize that it is absolutely wrong to have another, side-by-side work. Your work must be a layer laid upon the present layer, and it must produce the same appearance.
Sooner or later, many of the Lord’s seekers who have been in His work for years, including some who are quite popular, will turn to the way of the Lord’s recovery. But we do not believe that the Lord will raise up any side-by-side work. Although there will be different ministries, they will be layer upon layer, and they will lead to the one appearance of God in Christ. No matter how many ministries we may have in the recovery, we shall have the same mind, the same concept, and the same opinion, and we shall all speak the same thing. However, this does not mean that all the ministries must be the same. We need different ministries, yet they must be layer upon layer. All the ministries must lead to one appearance—the appearance of today’s church and of the coming New Jerusalem.
Only recently did I see this matter of the twelve layers of the foundations being placed one on top of the other and bringing in one building with one appearance. All these ministries support and bear the same unique testimony. However, the situation of Christianity today is that of many different testimonies. The testimony of one group, for example, may be the washing of feet and the testimony of another group, the speaking in tongues. But we are not here for these things. We are for the unique expression of the Triune God, not for any specific practices or particular doctrines. Although our ministries may differ, our expression, our testimony, is just one. We are not building side by side; we are building one on top of another to bring forth the unique testimony of God in the universe.
The colors of the twelve precious stones of the foundation, which signify the twelve apostles, are as follows: the first is green, the second and third are blue, the fourth is green, the fifth and sixth are red, the seventh is yellow, the eighth is bluish-green, the ninth is yellow, the tenth is apple-green, the eleventh and twelfth are purple. The twelve layers of the foundation in the above colors give the appearance of a rainbow, signifying that the city is built upon and secured by God’s faithfulness in keeping His covenant (Gen. 9:8-17). Because the foundation is built upon the very faithfulness with which God keeps His covenant, it is trustworthy and reliable.