The prophet Malachi, prophesied of a day when God would gather together all those who love Him to make them into the jewels and center­pieces of a totally new and revamped universe. “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was writ­ten before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” Mal 3:16‑17 We can only wonder at what this imagery means and how such splendor could possibly be displayed through the children of dust. Somehow, though, our time‑worn flesh will be turned into such stunning beauty that it will surpass the radiance of the sun, the magnificence of the moon, the brilliance of the stars, the majesty of any nebulae, red Mars, even the Aurora Borealis, or any resplendent thing that this present universe has ever known. God will turn the saints into the crown jewels of His new creation. As a king wearing a royal ring, or a bejeweled crown of gold, or an insignia to declare his power, to enhance his majesty, so God will adorn His new worlds with the testimony of His saints. Their light and beauty will gleam into every corner of the universe like enormous sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and topaz, declaring the power of the love of Christ that saved them from the grip of death and decay and renewed them eternally by Christ’s saving blood, the elixir of all eternal life.

So it should be no wonder that the Bible ends with the Bride of Christ descending out of the heavens personified as a city, the New Jerusalem. She is the capital of a wholly new universe. What will be the cause of this newly configured universe? Another Big Bang type-thing! Maybe Jesus by speaking creation into being, by simply declaring His new name? Or most likely, by something not yet comprehensible?  Regardless, the Bride will be the eternal habitation of the Father and The Son. She will become the eternal “hub” of the universe from whom He reigns over His kingdom of Love. Everything will gravitate to her. All authority and majesty will flow from her.

It is no accident of fate that the Bride of Christ is the Bible’s last major topic to be revealed. It has been the aim and object of the creation of Adam from the very beginning. Therefore the story of the Bible begins, quite naturally, with the creation of man and how his relationship with God was severed through sin; but how it concludes, also quite naturally and successfully with man’s perfection and marriage to the Son of God. The institution of marriage, like so many things that are set up by Providence, is a shadow of the true spiritual things which are coming. The history of man can be seen as a story of his betrothal to God, of becoming Christ’s fiancée, then His Bride in waiting and finally, His eternal wife. That is why there is no marriage in heaven. No gender; we will all be as the angels. For it is God’s will that we should be part of His family, free and without division. We are to be married to Him only. Giving His Son a bride is the reason why the Father has willingly suffered so much pain and heartache in creating man. Giving Himself a bride is why Jesus gave up His glory in heaven and became, not just the Son of God, but also the Son of Man.

At times He was so hurt, so fed up, by man’s rejection that He regretted He had created him. He had nearly scrapped everything 1,500 years after it began, but found one man, named Noah, that gave Him delight and so encouraged Him to continue with the process of bringing to Himself a people who could fellowship with Him for all eternity. All along the way, at critical times, He found men who had faith in His love and caused Him to take heart and have hope for mankind. There was Job, the man who was able to resist the Devil and by his faith effectively countered Satan’s claim that men would not worship or revere God unless everything was going well. God found Abraham who believed the Almighty One could do all things and thereby was able to please God. The Lord found His dutiful servant Moses who, when God was about to destroy the rebellious Jewish nation in the wilderness and start over with his seed, rescued them from God’s anger by appealing to His mercy. God found David, a man after His own heart, to lead His people. There were the prophets who were obedient and told Israel about the coming Messiah. This epic story of faith was leading up to the coming of the Savior, the creation of the Church of God and the marriage of all faithful believers (both Jew and Gentile) with Him for all eternity.

In the first part of chapter twenty-one we discovered that God had always planned that man should be His eternal habitation. God did not want to live alone or simply with the angels in the vast expanses of heaven. He did not want to live in a palace or temple, but He wished to live in a home “made without hands”. His residence would be among the souls of the creatures that He Himself had made and then carefully nurtured to salvation through His Son. He would make these people into a nation of lively stones, building them one by one into an eternal dwelling place that would provide Him fellowship and return His love. The book of First Peter tells of this plan to make the saints into a royal priesthood of believers and a house for God’s habitation.

“Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
   as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that Ye may grow thereby:
   If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
   To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
   Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priest­hood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:1-5

Later in chapter twenty-one of Revelation, we discover that God employs the symbolism of a city to illustrate this great truth. He uses the city to personify the Bride. The characteristics of the ancient city, with its security, riches and full provisions for body, soul and spirit serve as a perfect description of the Bride’s eternally secure existence in Christ. (Herein lies the true nature of eternal security. Once we have been converted in this life and resurrected into immortality we are secure, and only then. This is the proof of our election and how we have made our “election sure”. We are not only the called, not only the called and chosen, but we are proven to be the called, the chosen and the faithful. Calvin’s doctrines of the ‘elect’ and the concepts of eternal security in this life, as once saved always saved, are erroneous and nullify every warning to believers to be holy, see that no man take your crown, to cease from sin and all sober advice given us by Jesus in the gospels.) The city, being a center of learning, health, government, and worship, is a fine reflection of the Bride’s vast riches of wisdom, health, security and liberty in Christ. A symbol, mind you. This represents a portion of the inheritance of those who loved Christ and gave their all to Him in this life. They did not give their all matter of factly, or by some compulsion of predestination to do so, by spiritual fate. They gave their all to Him by faith. God called Abraham His friend because Abraham believed Him, not because had made him a robot by pre-selection. The Bride shall reap the rewards of being His eternal wife because she returned Christ’s love to Him. Anyone who loves the Son, the Father will adore. This is what we have already learned in the first half of chapter twenty-one, but seeing and desiring the promised inheritance and understanding how to attain the inheritance and the right to be called Christ’s wife is quite another matter.

In verses nineteen and twenty we see that the Bride of Christ, appearing as a city, has descended from its place in heaven; its foundations shimmering brightly with the glorious light of twelve different types of precious stones, each one in some way representative of the characteristics of the saints. God itemizes the twelve stones to use them as analogies to teach the student of Revelation about the process of polishing and refining that is necessary in the preparation of the saints to become the unblemished Bride of Christ. Each one, therefore, has its own meaning and significance.

“And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
   The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.” Rev.  21:19‑20

The foundations have the names of the twelve apostles written on them, but they are garnished with these twelve precious stones. What meaning do these stones really have? Why are they named by name? And what significance does each one have? In searching their root meanings some very interesting things can be discovered about these stones. Six of the words have traceable etymologies that are significant symbolically. They can be said to symbolize the process of purification within us at our root being. The other six stones have symbolic meaning in their attributes and their uses, but not in their etymological roots which are obscure and unknown. These six symbolize the mysterious operation of purification that often takes place in the inner and upon the outer person, a person’s actions and deeds. Often the work is unknown, an impossible thing, but with God all things are possible. These twelve stones represent the perfect and full order of change that the Bride can undergo. Some is recognizable and understandable and predictable, other changes are hidden, subtle and done only in a quiet place with God. The whole person, body soul, and spirit finds representation in the symbols of the foundational stones of the great and eternal habitation of God which He is building, called the Bride. When analyzed, each stone reveals a characteristic(s) lending itself to a process of purifying, perfection and/or beautification of the inner being that inevitably must spill over to the only proof and validation of change – action. These stones are the foundation of the Bride, the process which, whether supernaturally quick or long and arduous, she must go through, even endure. It begins with polishing, as the first stone’s (jasper) etymology reveals. A sanding is required, a removal of the rough edges, a hollowing out, a shaving away, a reforming, and an abrading of the imperfections of the soul. God is determined to perfect the saints in a spiritual way so that He can present to Himself a perfect Bride. Ephesians 5:27 says this quite plainly, “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” A list of the six stones that have significant word roots is given first, along with their root meanings. A discussion of their connotations and symbolism follows. A discussion of the symbolism of the subtler second group of six follows.

 

1. Jasper: to polish

 

2. Sapphire: as used for scratching other substances, to score with a mark as a tally or record; (by implication) to inscribe and also to enumerate; to recount i.e. celebrate; commune; count, declare, number, reckon, scribe, shew forth, speak, talk, tell(out), writer.

3. Chalcedony: copper‑like; through the idea as hollowing out as a vessel (this GEM metal being chiefly used for that purpose); appearance, fashion, shape, sight; to know, be aware, behold, consider, (have) knowledge, look (on), perceive, see, be sure, tell, understand.

7. Chrysolite: gold or yellow stone; to furnish what is needed; (give) an oracle, “graze” (touch slightly), light upon, i.e. (by implication) to employ or to act towards one in a given manner; entreat, use.

 

10. Chrysoprasus: greenish‑yellow gem; (through the idea of the utility of the metal); gold, a golden article, as an ornament or coin.

 

12. Amethyst: purple clear gem to prevent intoxication; from two root words meaning to drink to intoxication, i.e. get drunk; and an intoxicant, drunkenness.

 

We Are Polished
A pattern emerges showing that these stones represent a process that we as believers ‑ partakers of that heavenly calling, are required to go through to be a “lively” stone, a part of the foundation of that great city, holy Jerusalem, the Lamb’s wife! Aptly, the first stone in the foundation ‑ Jasper ‑ signifies “to polish”. To make refined or elegant is one of Webster’s definitions for being polished. Christ takes us. Initially, we are raw gems in His hands until He performs the work of polishing us.

This is one of God’s great mercies at the heart of the Gospel message. All of us are sinners in need of God’s grace. All men’s hearts are desperately wicked Jer 17:9, but Jesus died for us while we were still His enemies. Rom  5:8 When we admit our sin and are truly repentant then He is faithful to forgive all our sins and we are miraculously converted into a new creature. 2 Cor  5:17 He gives us a new heart, one that can please Him, one able to bust free from the hold that sin has had on us. It is malleable and able to be worked on as a fine jeweler can work on a rough stone to polish, cut and find the right setting to enhance its value and maximize its potential beauty. Christ holds the promise that our initial conversion will lead to a polishing, a perfecting, if we allow His Spirit to work within us. He uses the Scriptures to instruct, rebuke, correct and reprove us. 2 Tim  3:16 The Scripture is designed as a polishing agent, a cutting tool, so that we “may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Tim  3:17 Christ promises to send the Holy Ghost to us to reprove us of sin and convince us of judgment and righteousness. The Spirit will work diligently on us to polish our souls if we let Him so that we can live lives of victorious and reputable faith in Christ. Jasper summarizes this process of polishing the soul and spirit.

The Rough Edges Are Sanded Away
The second jewel ‑ Sapphire ‑ connotes a “scratching” action. We’ve all heard the term “sanding off the rough edges”. People are sent off to finishing school to have the rough edges removed. In our walk with the Lord he sometimes has to scratch us up, or sand us down a bit to get to a more perfect finished product. What must be sanded away is our flesh, our will, and that always hurts; but when an area of the stone is sanded it is in a state so it may be polished. Without the sanding it cannot become a beautiful polished stone, a stone that is ready and willing to, as the root word implies, “recount, celebrate, declare, show forth” what the Great Polisher has wrought. Without the sanding of rough spots a saint cannot tell the story of God’s grace to others with veracity. The Sapphire, then, also implies testifying and publishing the Gospel with our mouth, our pen and our lives. It is no accident that the elements of sanding away our flesh and testifying for the Lord are combined under this one symbolic precious stone. What the saint teaches and testifies to must be the truth. We cannot say one thing and do another and hope to have an effective testimony. God does not abide hypocrisy. To be a true witness for Christ, and therefore an effective one, the saint must be transformed by the Gospel. He or she must have allowed this sanding process to be active. To tell of the glories of Christ without letting Christ have His way with us is to tell of an experience which we ourselves have not partaken or allowed in our life. Sanding and testimony go together as declared by this one precious jewel.

We are Emptied Out
The third gem, Chalcedony, is a very significant stone in the overall foundation of the Bride. As noted in the definition, it is “the hollowing out as a vessel”. Again the Scripture speaks to Timothy the servant of God saying, “there are vessels of gold and silver, of wood and earth; some to honour and some to dishonour, … purge yourself from these so that you can be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” 2 Tim 2:20, 21 By fleeing youthful lusts and following righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart we become vessels of honor. We are taught here to hollow out ourselves, empty out the old man who is dead in sin, and let God fill us up with the new and spiritual beauty of Christ. Rom  6:6, Eph  4:22, Col  3:9 Also noted is the last part of the definition which tells us to “be aware, behold, consider, know” and again, as with the definition for Sapphire, “to tell”. We cannot be slothful or lazy in understanding the Gospel and knowing God’s Word. We are expected to be alert and communicative to others about God’s mercy to us. We must study the Bible and let the Holy Ghost be our tutor. Knowledge is one of the fundamentals, or base elements of faith. The only way we can gain in knowledge and have understanding is when we consider that we are blind and that Christ must give us sight to see, to know the truth and have awareness of reality according to Him, for He is the Truth.

Imbued With the Holy Ghost
The seventh stone, Chrysolite, also relates to this overall refining and polishing operation, in particular referring to the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost, who is absolutely vital in the burnishing process. The Chrysolite is golden. The root meanings for Chrysolite are, “to furnish what is needed” (give an oracle); “graze” (touch slightly), and “light upon”. If we are to have a victorious life in Christ then we need to be furnished with what is necessary. This can be accomplished for the Bride only by the Holy Ghost, having Him “light upon” her. It is He who gives the oracle (the gifts such as; prophecy, wisdom, healings and faith). It is when the finger of God touches the person that they are healed, restored and changed. It is not only He who provides us comfort and consolation in the trials of this life, but He is the one who leads us into all truth. Jn 16:7‑14 If the golden light of Christ is brought to us by the Holy Ghost we are enlightened indeed.

Great Worth and Purity
Number ten, the Chrysoprasus, is a greenish, yellow stone but the word, as a root meaning, is connected with the most precious of all metals ‑ gold. Gold must be refined, the dross separated from the pure gold and burnished to a glittering luster. The implication here is great value, extreme beauty and immeasurable worth. The prospective Bride must be refined in the fires of the trials of this life. The dross, as in gold, must be separated so that only the pure value of what Christ has done in the life of the believer will be left to shine forth to enrich the lives of others. Extreme heat is required to refine gold. The Bride must be baptized with fire, take the heat, suffer persecution, even tribulation to be gold and as valuable to God as possible. We with much tribulation must enter the kingdom of God, as Paul told all the disciples he taught. Everyone who lives a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, Paul warned his protégé Timothy. Pure gold does not come about but by burning off the dross. So it is with the Bride who is made by foundational process symbolized by Chrysoprasus.

To Prevent Intoxication
The twelfth, Amethyst, has as a root meaning to “prevent intoxication”. The epistles command us to be sober; “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.“ 1 Pet. 1:13 Peter also admonishes, “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” 1 Pet. 4:7 Paul tells us to “be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” Eph. 5:18

Coming into our “right mind” is so vitally important as a Christian. We are told in Ephesians not to walk as other Gentiles do, in the vanity of our minds. We are supposed to acquire the mind of Christ. We are told expressly that once we are born-again we actually are given the mind of Christ. This means we have access to His thoughts and mind on all things. We have to utilize this, avail ourselves of the mind of Christ which is made available to us. We must shun our own personal thoughts. Man’s thoughts are lower, more pitiful, even disreputable, always short of the mind of Christ, but now we have access to God’s mind through Christ. The Bride will allow God to give her His thoughts and feelings. She must receive, drink in, concede. The way God looks at things is quite different from the way men do. “My ways are not your ways, nor are your thoughts my thoughts”, God tells us in Isaiah  55:8 Once again, the Word of God is given to the Church for this purpose. It is used to save our minds, to transform our views of life and righteousness into God’s views of truth and righteousness. This process, this happening must occur and re-occur.

And there is another spiritual implication here of great significance; we must not be intoxicated with ourselves. We are to be moved and impassioned by the spirit of Christ in us. Pride is a form of intoxication, everybody knows this. No one feels comfortable around an egomaniac. But self-intoxication is more prevalent in the human spirit than most want to believe. In fact, Self‑reliance, self‑confidence, self-love, and the like is what our current world suggests and teaches as the only safe path to trod. But, these are beliefs which God hopes to divest His people of. The Bride will be delivered from these misconceptions, seeing them for what they really are: self-intoxication and an automatic dismissal of having Christ flood the soul instead. Selfishness is not at all, no matter what form it is in or how it is justified, what God expects of His Bride‑to‑be. He wants us to be thoroughly dependent on Him, ready to receive anything and everything He has for us, not relying on self.

THE MORE MYSTERIOUS FOUNDATIONAL GEMS
The remaining six stones, the emerald, sardonyx, sardius, beryl, topaz and jacinth, also have significance, though not by the meanings of their root words, but because of their natural properties and uses. These six are shrouded in a bit of mystery, just as aspects of the process of purification and change can be hidden and mysterious in the Bride.

#4 – Emerald: Used to Sand Others

Emerald is a corundum type mineral which means that it can be used itself as an abrasive. The oriental emerald is a beautiful green gem, highly prized as jewelry, but because of its hardness is also used to grind, cut, smooth or polish another substance, especially other gems. It works on others and is beautiful at the same time. While the previously mentioned gems were themselves improved and polished to a beautiful state of perfection, this stone is used to help in the polishing and perfecting of other stones. This is part of the mission of the Bride. She is to work to perfect others. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” The stones of the New Jerusalem will have been involved in sharpening one another, not only honing the spiritual discernment in one another about their spiritual perfection, but helping to heighten their awareness and attention to details in their fellow saint’s perfection. The emerald stands as a symbol of the concern of the Bride for helping one another stay on track for the perfecting work of the Holy Ghost through the ministering of the body one to another. The Bible says for each one to look to the things of others and not to their own things. The lion’s portion of those ‘things of others’ is spiritual enhancement and refinement through the ‘abrasive process’ of smoothing and cutting into shape so that the ‘lively stone’ may be fitted into its proper setting.

 

#5 – Sardonyx: Nailing Our Sins to The Cross

Sardonyx, is a translucent onyx with reddish streaks running through it. Its color harkens back to the blood of Christ and the nature of the walls surrounding and defending the city called THE BRIDE. As annunciated before by the symbolism of the Jasper stone, it is Christ’s blood that pulses through the spiritual veins of the Bride. This bloodstone is also an onyx which derives its name from the Greek word onyx meaning: “nail”. The color of the stone and its meaning combine to point to the cross and the forgiveness that it purchased for the Bride. “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross”. Col  2:13‑14 The nails that were driven through Christ’s hands also nailed our sins to that cross. The sardonyx signifies Christ who willingly died for His Bride. The Bride will forever testify of Christ’s love for her and how it was manifested on Calvary. The power of His shed blood has redeemed her and been instrumental in making her God’s most precious jewel of the universe. The sardonyx was considered a double stone in that it had a clear or white layer and an opaque layer, often of a fiery orangesh-red tint. This resembles the relationship between the judgment brought to bear upon the bride by Christ’s burning and delivering power. For the Bride undergoes a purging process subsequent to her submission to the burning of the fiery judgment of truth because of her relationship with her Lord and Savior, and espoused husband. But the two layers also represent the deeper mystery of the Bride being willing to take on the sufferings of Christ and to pick up her cross daily. She too must experience the crucified experience, crucifying her own flesh that the Spirit may reign in her mortal body. Jesus made it clear that anyone who does not do this cannot be His disciple. Dying to self has a purifying effect. Thus, the clear layer of the sardonyx stone laid against the fiery red blood layer, the blood-red being Christ which purifies the Bride when she also nails her flesh (spiritually by will) to the cross by picking it up and walking with it daily. Picking up the cross and following after Jesus is a great mystery to all of mankind and only discernable by the true Christian who can understand things that are foolishness to the world, but are the wisdom of God to the born-again believer striving toward the beauty of holiness.

 

# 6 – Sardius: Emptied Out

The sardius is a sard stone which has layers of white and reddish color and once again speaks of the blood of Christ which was shed for the remission of sin. Instead of a clear accompanying layer the sard has an opaque white layer which is more suited as a symbol of the white traditionally associated with a virgin’s bridal gown. Spiritually, Christ considers her a virgin because she has no other gods, no competitor for His affections, does not balk at His advances. The righteousness of the saints is associated with clean and pure white linen as well.

Also, any stone considered to be a ‘sard’ stone is a chalcedony by definition, which from number gem #3 we know means to empty out, as with an empty vessel. We can infer that by the blood of Christ we are to take His lead and empty ourselves out. This suggestion is different from the implications of the previous gem, the sardonyx, which pointed to the experience of the cross. We are to follow the lead of Jesus who emptied out Himself for our sakes. We are told, as an example, that He left His heavenly glory and became of no reputation. We, too, should concede our reputation and ambitions to God. Forgo our personal glory. Leave all that to God who will exalt us in due time. Jesus said the things which are esteemed among men are abhorrent to God. The Bride will have to follow her husband’s lead who emptied himself out for the glory that was set before Him in eternity. She, too, must be willing to empty herself out and be humble and trusting of God. She must flee youthful lusts, she will have to renounce the hopes of the world, not aspire to the esteem of men, be unmoved by bribes which could lure her from perfect fidelity to her Lord. She will not only die to self as the sardonyx gem implies, but empty herself out, be divested of hope in this world as a sard stone symbolizes.

#8 – Beryl: Strengthened and Whitened

The Beryl is a family of gems noted for extreme hardness. The quality of being unbreakable speaks of the Bride’s intractable position. As the scriptural simile, “like a tree planted by the waters I (she) shall not be moved.” She is fixed on Jesus, wants to cleave to Jesus and she is impervious to all other suggestions or temptations to be wooed away from Him. Her relationship with God cannot be severed or broken and once she has been married to Him it will not be able to be broken nor divorced for all eternity. The word has its roots in the Greek word Berullos meaning: to whiten. The red beryl is one of the rarest gems in the world. It speaks of the whitening or cleansing of the saint by the blood of Jesus. Her immovable strength is in her unswerving devotion and loyalty to Christ though it may look like narrow-mindedness to the worldly, even hardness to the pseudo-gentle humanists, both in and outside the Church. This is part of her purity and whiteness. She wears the white and pure linen of the righteousness of the saints and her husband respects her for it.

#9 – Topaz: The Light Of The World

Topaz is a yellow corundum. As corundum it can be employed to cut and abraid other gems just as the emerald, but beryl is transparent yellowish, even golden. It is a light shining forth with brilliance. This speaks of the open life of the Bride. She does things in the light. She does not live life hiding or hiding things from people. She does not sneak about, deceiving being deceived. She tries to do her work in the light and there has been nothing hidden or secretive about her ministry in Christ. She has been the light on the hill and reflected the light of the world. Jesus said,”Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matt  5:14‑16 As represented by the topaz, The Bride has been faithful as a witness to Christ’s light in the world and has desired to step out of the shadows and walk in the light.

 

#11 – Jacinth: Blue-Blood Royalty

Jacinth, the final gem, is perhaps the most mysterious of all the foundation stones to be found in the Bride. The word Jacinth is derived from the word hyacinth which in the ancient world was a variety of flower, as it still is today. Both plant and stone are purple or deep blue, the flower was supposed to have sprouted from the earth from the blood of a slain god. The connection again is to the blood of Christ which has its great supernatural and mystical life-giving powers. The Bride has been given eternal life by the blood of Jesus but the jacinth points to the promise that she will be granted to sit in His throne Rev  3:21 and rule with Him. The purple color suggests royalty and kingship as purple was the color worn by the Caesars and blue associated with royalty throughout the ancient world and in the Middle East. It is the spiritual equivalent of the term ‘blue-blood’ used when referring to monarchs and the heritage of kings. So the Bride is destined to rule, with her husband, the nations with a rod of iron.

Conclusion
Jesus promises overcomers of the church of Pergamos that He will give them a white stone with a name written on it that only he knows. An edifying definition for this white stone is as follows: “a pebble (as worn smooth by handling) i.e. (by implication of use as a counter or ballot), a verdict (of acquittal) or ticket (of admission), a note, stone, voice; to verify by contract; feel after, handle, touch; also to twitch or twang, i.e. to play on a stringed instrument (celebrate the divine worship with music and accompanying odes) make melody, sing (psalms). So this one word tells us the story of how we are acquitted of a verdict, given a ticket of admission and then we celebrate our admission into eternal life and godly bliss with divine music and psalms. The culmination of all of this is: “ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow‑citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Eph. 2:19‑22 The twelve foundational stones, represented in the apostles, the founders of the Church represent our being made as solid as a rock and beautiful as all the most wonderful gems.