Ⅳ
"The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was, respectively, of one pearl" (21:21a):
Ａ
Pearls are produced by oysters in the waters of death:
１
When an oyster is wounded by a grain of sand, it secretes its life-juice around the grain of sand and makes it into a precious pearl.
２
The oyster depicts Christ as the living One coming into the death waters, being wounded by us (cf. Isa. 53:5), and secreting His life over us to make us precious pearls for the building of God's eternal habitation and expression.
３
That the twelve gates of the holy city are twelve pearls signifies that regeneration through the death-overcoming and life-secreting Christ is the entrance into the city.
４
This meets the requirement of the law, which is represented by Israel and is under the observing of the guarding angels; we can enter into the city only through the once-for-all regeneration accomplished by Christ's overcoming death and life-imparting resurrection.
５
God is triune in one entrance to bring us into God, into God's interest, into the kingdom of God, and into the economy of God, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem; the Triune God is our triune entrance (Luke 15:1-32; Eph. 2:18; 1 Pet. 1:1-2).
Morning Nourishment
Rev. 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was, respectively, of one pearl...Isa. 53:5 But He was wounded because of our transgressions; He was crushed because of our iniquities; the chastening for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we have been healed.
We want to see the significance of the pearls in the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21:21 tells us that the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem are twelve pearls. A pearl is not created or manufactured but produced by an oyster. A pearl is something produced organically just as a piece of fruit is not something manufactured or created but is the produce of an organic tree....Pearls are produced by oysters in the waters of death. When the oyster is wounded by a particle of sand, a little rock, it secretes its life-juice around the sand and makes it a precious pearl.
In this allegory we need to see the illustration of Christ's death. The oyster depicts Christ as the living One coming into the death waters, being wounded by us, and secreting His life over us to make us precious pearls for the building of God's eternal habitation and expression. That the twelve gates of the holy city are twelve pearls signifies that regeneration through the death-overcoming and life-secreting Christ is the entrance into the city. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, "God's New Testament Economy," pp. 416-417)
Today's Reading
Each gate of the holy city is one pearl, signifying that the entrance to the city is unique and is once for all; that is, we can enter the city only through the once-for-all regeneration accomplished by Christ's overcoming death and life-imparting resurrection. (Rev. 21:21, footnote 2)The oyster's wound is an inward wound caused by a little rock. This rock can remain in this wound or, we may say, in this death. In like manner, we can remain in Christ's death....Every moment we need to stay in the all-inclusive death of Christ. The reason we lose our temper is because we move out of the death of Christ....Where can you get the victory over sin, over your temperament, over the world, and over Satan? There is victory only in the death of Christ.
Day by day I enjoy the secretion of Christ's resurrection life. A kind of secretion is around me all the time because I am always imprisoned in His death. Where death is, resurrection is. Resurrection works in death and through death. This resurrection is the secretion of the life-sap of the resurrected Christ around your entire being in the way that oysters produce pearls.
As we stay in the Lord's death and enjoy His life-secreting resurrection, there is a further entering into the New Jerusalem. Our experience of the Lord's death and resurrection becomes our entry into the New Jerusalem.
I hope that...all of us would pray, "Lord, imprison me and keep me always in Your death. I do not want to leave Your death but to make Your death my sweet and wonderful dwelling place. Lord, I want to stay with You in Your death." His death is the place where He has the position to secrete Himself around you, and this is the only place where you can enjoy and experience His resurrection life as a kind of life-sap secreting itself around your being, making you a wonderful piece of pearl. We need to see that the pearls signify the believers produced of Christ in His redemptive work with His secreting life for the entry into God's building.
First Peter 1:1-2 tells us that we have been chosen "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ."...In 1 Peter 1:1-2 we see the Father's choosing, the Spirit's sanctifying, and the sprinkling of the Son's blood....[Here] we see that God is triune in one entrance to bring us into God, into God's interest, into the kingdom of God, and into the economy of God, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem. The Bible reveals that the Triune God is our triune entrance. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, "God's New Testament Economy," pp. 417-420, 435-436)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, "God's New Testament Economy," ch. 33