Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Cheryl Boardman
Monday, November 25, 2024

This is a photo of an agate (microcrystalline form of quartz) slab (slice) that I got at a rock and gem show recently. The lines are called bands. This one has a little crystal pocket as well. I’m not sure where this originated from. I would guess maybe Mexico, as there are some really amazing agates that come from there!

There are a lot of different kinds of agate. Some can be recognized easily and some are more difficult. To identify them, it really helps to know where they were found.

I’m currently in a Bible study where we are studying Exodus 28 and God’s design for the priestly garments.

Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions—the work of skilled hands. Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. It is to be square—a span long and a span wide—and folded double. Then mount four rows of precious stones on it. The first row shall be carnelian, chrysolite and beryl; the second row shall be turquoise, lapis lazuli and emerald; the third row shall be jacinth, agate and amethyst; the fourth row shall be topaz, onyx and jasper. Mount them in gold filigree settings. There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes. Exodus 28:15-21 (NIV)

Someone brought up the fact that the foundations of the new Jerusalem were also made of stones. Here is John’s description:

The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. Revelation 21:14-22 (NIV)

According to the Andrews Bible Commentary, page 1999, The twelve tribes of Israel represent God’s people of the OT. The new city will have twelve foundations that have the names of the twelve apostles on them (v 14). The twelve apostles represent God’s people of the NT (Eph 2:20). The coupling of the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles shows the continuity of God’s people and identifies the city as the place for all of His people, regardless of the time period in which they lived. The foundations of the city were decorated with all kinds of precious stones (v.19), which correlate with the precious stones that decorated the breastplate of the high priest in the OT and that were engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Ex. 28:17-21).