Symbolical Gems — The 12 Stones in Revelation

1874

The following symbolization of the twelve stones mentioned in the Book of Revelation as forming the foundation of the wall of the New Jerusalem will furnish a hint to gift-seekers.

First, jasper, the crimson, the color of passion, suffering; then the sapphire, truth and calm; beyond, chalcedony for purity; next the emerald, the hope of glory. The fifth stone, the sardonyx, is the mingling and alternating of these — the tenderness and the pain and the purifying. The sardius represents the triumphant love, containing and overwhelming all passion; the central type — crowning the human, underlying the heavenly.

Then the tints grow clear and spiritual; chrysolite, golden-green, touched with a glory manifest; the blending of a rarer and serener blue, the wonderful sea-pure beryl; then the sun-filled glory of the topaz; and chrysoprase, where flame and azure find each other — the joy of the Lord and the peace which passeth understanding. In the end, the jacinth, purple, and pure amethyst, into which the rainbow refines itself at last, hinting at the far distance of ineffable things.