302 THE CURIOUS LORE OP PRECIOUS STONES
The
high-priest's breastplate, as described in Hebrew tradition, was
regarded by the Jews with peculiar reverence, and the stones set in it
were believed to be emblematic of many things. It is, therefore, quite
natural that these stones are described in the book of Revelation as
the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem. The names are in some cases
not identical with those given in Exodus, but this may arise from
various renderings of the Hebrew names in the Targums or in the Greek
versions.
The text in Revelation (xxi, 9-21) is as follows:
And
there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials
full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come
hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife:
And
he earried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and
showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven
from God.
Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper-stone, clear as crystal ;
And
had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates
twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the
twelve tribes of the children of Israel :
On the east, three gates; on the north, three gates; on the south, three gates; and on the west, three gates.
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
And
the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth :
and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The
length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
And
he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits,
according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city
was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
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