[And] her light.-"The Lamb is the Light thereof."-Rev. 21:23; 22:5.

Was like unto a stone most precious. "The brightness of His [the Father's] glory, and the express image of His person."-Heb. 1:3.

Even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.-A beautiful green-tinted diamond.-Rev. 4:3.

21:12. And [had] HAVING a wall great and high.-The pictures here are all pictures of the Bride. Nevertheless, the wall, the protection of that Heavenly City, in a special sense represents our Heavenly Father. No pieture of the Bride would be complete that did not include Him who dwells within us, who is the Author of the Plan, and the Source of all our joys. Now as to the application of the picture of the wall to the Bride herself, one of Pastor Russell's coworkers has aptly said: "We are like living stones, in the plural-144,000 stones in one, if you will. There was one perfect Stone to begin with, and all the others had to be conformed to the image of that Stone. Men have discovered a way of taking two glasses of different density and fusing them together, so you cannot tell where the point of fusion is. And so, with this Little Flock of 144,000, they are going to be welded together in one there will be but one mind in that whole 144,000. There is only one thing they have in view, and that is to perform Jehovah's will; and they rejoice in doing His will absolutely."

And [had] HAVING twelve gates.-The twelve mystical tribes of Israel.-Rev. 7:5-8; Ezek. 48:31-34.

And at the gates twelve angels, and THEIR names written thereon.-The entire Little Flock; twelve thousand of each tribe, each working together, under God's direction, as one angel, or messenger. Doubtless certain special work is reserved for each tribe. All who gain membership in that tribe will be particularly suited to the work to which they will be assigned.

Which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Their names, and the characteristics they signify, are given in Rev. 7:5-8.

21:13. On the East.-Toward the Sun-rising, toward the Dawn, toward the Little Flock, specially honored and blessed in their sacrifices on behalf of the Church. The side of the Amramites.-Num. 3:19; F128.

Three gates.-The mystical tribe of Joseph, Benjamin and Manasseh-Manasseh taking the place of Dan.-Ezek. 48:32; Rev. 7:5, 7, 8.

AND on the North.-The side of the Merarites, the Great Company.-Num. 3:33; F129.

Three gates.-The mystical tribes of Judah, Reuben and Levi.-Ezek. 48:31; Rev. 7:5, 7.

AND on the South.-The side of the Kohathites, the Ancient Worthies.-Num. 4:2; F129.

Three gates.-The mystical tribes of Simeon, Issachar and Zebulun.-Ezek. 48:33; Rev. 7:7, 8.

And on the West.-The side of the Gershonites, the Restitution classes.-Num. 4:22; F129.

Three gates.-The mystical tribes of Gad, Asher and Naphtali.-Ezek. 48:34; Rev. '7:5, 6.

Although the pictures here given are pictures of the Bride, and the gates apply as above shown, nevertheless these gates also represent the Ancient Worthies, who during the Millennial Age will be the earthly representatives of the Church, and, perhaps, exactly 144,000 in number. Additionally, the Ancient Worthies are called "gates" in Isa. 26:2. "The gates or entrances of the City, which are twelve in number, are inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. This is in harmony with what we have learned of the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God, that the Ancient Worthies from the various tribes of Israel, selected during the Jewish Age, will be the visible representatives of the Heavenly Kingdom in the earth, through whose instrumentality the nations may enter into the blessings of the Kingdom."-Z.'92-16.,

"The city lies open and accessible to all quarters, and to all quarters alike."-Luke 13:29. Weym.

21:14. And the wall of the City had twelve foundations. "The Lord himself, is the foundation, 'Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid-Jesus Christ.' (1 Cor. 3:11.) He is the great Rock, and St. Peter's confession of Him as such was, therefore, a rock testimonial-a declaration of the foundation principles underlying the Divine Plan. St. Peter disowned any pretension to being the foundation-stone himself and properly classed himself in with all the other 'living stones' (Gr. lithos,) of the Church, though petros, rock, signifies a larger stone than lithos, and all the Apostles as 'foundation' stones would in the Divine Plan and order have a larger importance than their brethren."-F220; Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:20.

And [in] ON them the TWELVE names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb.-"We are entirely out of accord with the views of Papacy, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, of the Catholic-Apostolic Church, and of the Mormons, all of whom claim that the number of the Apostles was not lim ited to twelve, and that there have been successors since their day who spoke and wrote with equal authority with the original Twelve. (2 Cor. 11:13.") (F209.) "We still have

with us the gift of Apostles, in that we have their teachings in the New Testament, so full and complete as to require no addition; and hence the Twelve Apostles have no successors, and need none, since there are but "Twelve Apostles of the Lamb;' they are the twelve stars; the 'twelve foundations."-John 6:70; E229, 207.

12:15. And he that talked with me.-Volume VII of Studies in the Scriptures.

Had a [golden] MEASURING reed of gold.-The Divine Word.

To measure the City, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. Surely, if we can not find the measurement in the Scriptures it is hopeless to look elsewhere.-Zech. 2:1, 2; Rev. 11:1; Ezek. 40:3.

21:16. And the City lieth foursquare, and the length is [as large] as the breadth.-A perfect cube, like the Most Holy of the Tabernacle.

And he measured the City with the reed, twelve thous and furlongs.-"The number of 'buildings' in the City seems to be indicated by the measures-12,000 times 12,000 furlongs equals 144,000,000 square furlongs. This area contains 144,000 building-lots of one thousand square furlongs each-which circumstance may well signify that the 144,000 faithful ones will reign with Jesus during a thousand years (one square furlong representing a year.")

The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. Each view of the City, from any side, presents to view, Justice, Power, Love and Wisdom.

21:17. And he measured the wall thereof.-Its thick

ness.

An hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man.-The measure of a man, the Man Christ Jesus, is 1,000. His Day is to be 1,000 years in length. Adam's Day was a thousand years long. The total measure is 144,000, the number of the Elect. We should expect to find the number of those rescued during the Millennium shown somewhere in these measurements; and this we also find. The cubit, in symbolism, is flexible in length, like the word "day." If we multiply the number of square furlongs in any wall by the 144 measures of a man, i. e., 144,000,000X144, the result is 20,736,000,000, the estimated number of the sheep class at the end of the Millennial Age.-Matt. 25:34-40; Z.'05-271.

That is, of the angel.-As interpreted by the angel. 21:18. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper. "The solid fabric of the wall was jasper; and the city itself was made of gold, resembling transparent glass.”— Weym.

And the City was pure gold, like unto clear glass.-Of Divine origin, and made up of those who have the Divine nature.

21:19. And the foundations of the wall of the City were garnished with all manner of precious stones.-Mosaic manufacturers make 15,000 colors; and it is estimated the trained eye can detect a million colors. In selecting and polishing the 144,000 gems and putting them in place in the Temple God is preparing a beautiful harmony of char acters in infinite variety that will delight the hearts of all His creatures to all eternity.-1 Chron. 29:2.

The first foundation was jasper.-Likeness to the Father. See comments on Rev. 4:3.

The sapphire

AND the second, sapphire.-Faithfulness. of the ancients is the modern lapiz lazuli, or azure stone, a mineral substance valued for decorative purposes in consequence of the fine blue color which it usually presents. It has the appearance of being spotted with gold dust. "The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold." (Job. 28:6.) The brilliant spots in the deep blue matrix invite comparison with the stars in the firmament. The crystals form into units having twelve equal sides. The blue is the color of faithfulness; the gold shows the faithfulness towards God; the star like appearance shows the faithfulness towards all the Heavenly beings-angels, archangels, and the Great Company; the crystalline formation shows the faithfulness towards the symbolical and actual twelve tribes of Israel, which, in the last analysis, include all who shall become heirs of salvation. Those who gain the prize of the High Calling can be trusted.-1 Cor. 4:2; Luke 16:10-12.

AND the third, a chalcedony.-Obedience; Submission. A green quartz, found in the copper mines of Chalcedon. It crystallizes in the twelve-sided and twenty-four-sided forms of cubic crystalline formation. In the twelve-sided crystals each side is a surface of five equal sides and angles. The Church's obedience is perfect towards God as indicated in the faces of the crystals, five being a symbol of Divinity. It is operative towards the brethren as in the twelve-faced_crystals, and towards both phases of the Kingdom, as in the twenty-four-sided crystals.

The fourth, an emerald.-Deathlessness. One of the most beautiful of gems, of a bright green color, without any mixture, crystallizing in long, hexagonal (six-sided) crystals. The stone loses color when strongly heated. From those originally imperfect (as shown in the sixsided crystals) God is creating a race of deathless ones. Nevertheless, though begotten to the Divine nature, should