Together, Forever, on the Streets of Gold by David Jeremiah

Together, Forever, on the Streets of Gold: City of Gold

And the city was pure gold, like clear glass. . . . And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
Revelation 21:18, 21

Historically, gold has been the most valuable store of wealth and the most malleable. It can be hammered so thin that it actually becomes transparent. Gold reflects yellow and red light, allowing green and blue light to pass through its transparency.

Recommended Reading: Revelation 21:18-23

18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

The Glory of the New Jerusalem

22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

Perhaps that is a clue to why the New Jerusalem will be made of gold “like clear glass.” Since the glory of God will provide the light for the city, and the Lamb of God will be its light (Revelation 21:23), perhaps the transparency of the golden city is what allows the light of God to shine throughout its gigantic dimensions—a cube 1,400 miles on each side. It is not just the transparency of gold that accounts for it being the substance of the city but its worth. The image of the city as a golden city is another way of saying it is the most valuable place on earth.

It is a shame that so many on earth pursue wealth that will pass away, when an eternal city of gold is theirs for the believing. Don’t confuse temporal with eternal value.

In the streets of that new Jerusalem above, none shall ever complain that others have too much, or that they themselves have too little. 
Thomas Brooks, The Crown and the Glory of Christianity