xin. THE GATES OF PEARL. 



235 



through the storm to their help, and said to the waves 

 within and without, " Peace, be still." The pearly gates 

 are therefore the survivors of the seas that have fled r 

 after their changes and storms had done their work in 

 preparing the redeemed for their rest. Through these 

 pearly gates they pass from the tempestuous sea of 

 earth to the sea of glass before the throne, whose crystal 

 purity no sin can stain, whose eternal calm no billow 

 can ruffle. And as on the morning after a storm that 

 has made many wrecks we walk along the shore, with 

 the diamond sand sparkling in the sunshine, and the 

 calm sea smiling under the cloudless heavens, so after 

 life's night of storm the redeemed walk upon the sea of 

 glass within the pearly gates and rejoice in everlasting 

 sunshine. 



How were these gates of pearl formed? The walls 

 of the heavenly city are formed of jewels, each of 

 which was crystallized in the dark depths of the mine, 

 under the pressure of rocks, by igneous or aqueous 

 agency. Rubies are derived from granite rocks ; 

 sapphires from metamorphic limestones. Quietly as 

 they lie now around the eternal home, they were once 

 exposed to forces which shook the earth to its found- 

 ations. They took their crimson hue from the devour- 

 ing fire, and their sapphire gleam from the destructive 

 flood. The coloured light that throbs imprisoned in 

 their translucent walls, more intense because of its 

 concentration, was focused in them by the throes of 

 the earth during the long ages of its geological history. 

 From sand and clay and coal, and other worthless or 



