Revelation 21:18

The structure of the wall was of jasper to show the ever green and unfading life of the saints. The city is of "pure gold as though of glass" because of the clarity and brightness of its inhabitants.

And the building of the wall of it was of jasper,.... Which is expressive of the impregnableness, duration, brightness, and glory of salvation by Christ, the jasper being a very hard, durable, and bright stone; and salvation can never be made void, and of none effect; it will last for ever, and in this state will come forth as light, and as a lamp that burneth; it is represented by the same precious stone as God and Christ themselves are; see Rev 4:

And the building of the wall was jasper - That is, the wall was built of jasper.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v17-19

The building of the wall of it was of jasper - The oriental jasper is exceedingly hard, and almost indestructible. Pillars made of this stone have lasted some thousands of years, and appear to have suffered scarcely any thing from the tooth of time. Pure gold, like unto clear glass - Does not this imply that the walls were made of some beautifully bright yellow stone, very highly polished?

the building--"the structure" [TREGELLES], Greek, "endomeesis." gold, like . . . clear glass--Ideal gold, transparent as no gold here is [ALFORD]. Excellencies will be combined in the heavenly city which now seem incompatible.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

And the building of the wall of it - The material of which the wall was composed. This means the wall above the foundation, for that was composed of twelve rows of precious stones, Rev 21:14, Rev 21:19-20. The height of the foundation is not stated, but the entire wall above was composed of jasper. Was of jasper - See the notes on Rev 4:3. Of course, this cannot be taken literally; and an attempt to explain all this literally would show that that method of interpreting the Apocalypse is impracticable. And the city was pure gold - The material of which the edifices were composed. Like unto clear glass - The word rendered “glass” in this place - ὕαλος hualos - occurs in the New Testament only here and in Rev 21:21. It means, properly, “anything transparent like water”; as, for example, any transparent stone or gem, or as rock-salt, crystal, glass (Robinson, Lexicon). Here the meaning is, that the golden city would be so bright and burnished that it would seem to be glass reflecting the sunbeams. Would the appearance of a city, as the sun is setting, when the reflection of its beams from thousands of panes of glass gives it the appearance of burnished gold, represent the idea here? If we were to suppose a city made entirely of glass, and the setting sunbeams falling on it, it might convey the idea represented here. It is certain that, as nothing could be more magnificent, so nothing could more beautifully combine the two ideas referred to here - that of “gold and glass.” Perhaps the reflection of the sunbeams from the “Crystal Palace,” erected for the late “industrial exhibition” in London, would convey a better idea of what is intended to be represented here than anything which our world has furnished. […]