One Pearl Gates!


The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

Revelation 21:21

I have just finished reading again the last six chapters of the Book of Revelation. This time when I read it I was overwhelmed with the reality that these descriptions are not symbolic. They are literal! The symbolic stuff is here on this earth. God made a little creature we call an oyster to show us what His gate makers are like. Each gate in Heaven is made of a single pearl. When we normally think of the “Pearly Gates” we imagine gates covered with pearls. But the Bible says each gate is one pearl.

Young children are perfectly content to be children. They may like to play “grown up” games, but they can’t truly grasp that one day they will grow up themselves and become an adult. But then there comes the time when the child is changing into an adult. It is an awkward time but one of serious awakening. When you become a teenager, you may still think like and act like a child but you don’t feel like a child. You begin to understand the world differently as you see how you will soon be a part of the world of adults. Then like a butterfly you launch out in to the world as a beautifully changed creature!

When a man is born again into the family of God he begins his spiritual journey as a child. It is a time of spiritual contentment. It is safe and the love of God is wrapping you like a blanket. But then there comes an awkward time of spiritual awakening. You begin to see how one day soon you will be part of a “grown-up” Heavenly Life. When you read the mysteries of the Bible the Holy Spirit whispers “Soon you will understand!” You begin to see life not in terms of how old you are, but rather how soon it will be until you cross over.

So if the trouble in this world is burdening you down please read again the last few chapters of the Book of Revelation and ponder the fact that the descriptions you are reading are not symbolic but real!

The song made popular by Andre Crouch some years ago is a good one to sing throughout each day: “Soon, oh very soon we are going to see the King!”