The City is the Pearl of Great Price

In the Holy City, "The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl." (Rev. 21:21)

Do you know how a pearl is formed? By irritation and pain. A grain of sand gets inside the shell of that pearl producing creature and begins to irritate it. In order to alleviate the pain the oyster secretes a substance that surrounds the grain of sand and through a process of pain and irritation the pearl is formed.

On the surface it would seem as if Jesus is the pearl of great price but He is not. The City is the pearl of great price. It cost Jesus His life. Just to get this treasure He gave His life as ransom for the whole world. It cost Him a lot of pain and irritation. It stands to reason that if we are to enter into this City that it will cause us a lot of pain and irritation and, like Jesus, we will have to die to our way of thinking and doing things.