Revelation 21:19; And the Foundations of the Wall of the City

Revelation 21:19 (KJV)  And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 

Attention returns to the foundations of the city wall already noticed in v14 – And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 

Revelation 21:14 (KJV) And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The first foundation of the city was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald. It is of interest that the twelve foundations extend above ground level enough to be visible from John’s vantage point. Twelve stones in v19-20 offer examples of “all manner of precious stones” which adorn the wall’s foundations. The twelve portray a radiant and superb structure. (Moffatt).

Eight of the twelve stones correspond to those in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28:17-20; 39:10; cf. Isaiah 54:11-12; Ezekiel 28:13).

Exodus 28:17-20 (KJV)  And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings. 

Exodus 39:10 (KJV)  And they set in it four rows of stones: the first row was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this wasthe first row. 

Isaiah 54:11-12 (KJV) O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.

Ezekiel 28:13 (KJV) Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Some uncertainty exists regarding the identification of some of the stones and their colours, the colours they represent are probably white (jasper), blue (sapphire, jacinth, amethyst), and yellow (Chrysolite). A great variety in shade and brilliance of each colour prevails, of course (Swete). The use of “garnished” does not mean that these stones decorated the foundations, but that each of the foundations consisted of one of the twelve stones (Alford).

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 469]