Perhaps you have heard of the parable involving the “pearl of great price” (Matt. 13:46) or read of the “twelve gates [that will be] twelve pearls” of the coming new heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 21:21). Have you ever stopped to consider why God would use a pearl as the main component of one of Christ’s parables symbolizing the kingdom of God? Or, have you ever wondered why the twelve gates of—the very entrances into—the headquarters of the new heavens and new earth will be made of pearls? Why not diamonds, or solid gold or some other seemingly more valuable gemstone or material?

Well, the answer lies in the unique way that God designed the formation of pearls. Most would probably say, “Pearls come from oysters.” But there is much more to the wonderful and exquisite intricacy of pearls that deserves our attention.

First, pearls are unique to the world of gemstones because they are the only ones that are individually formed from a living organism. Other gemstones, like diamonds or rubies, for example, must be found within the earth, mined, and cut to size and shape according to preference.

In contrast, pearls form one by one when a foreign particle of some sort becomes lodged in the soft tissue of an oyster or mollusk. To relieve the irritation, the animal coats the irritant with a secretion called nacre. This nacre is the same substance that forms mother of pearl, the shiny surface found inside the shells of oysters and mollusks. Instead of a few layers, however, the nacre continues building up over time as the oyster continues coating it. Depending on how long the irritant remains inside the oyster, the varying number of layers will determine the size and shape of the resulting pearl. In addition, the color of a pearl can vary from cream to peach to pink to dark gray depending on the type of mollusk producing it.

Despite their uniqueness, you still might ask, “Why would God use pearls in the above two biblical instances to describe items of such immense value?” The answer to this question is found in history.

Today, even most “real” pearls are cultured. This means that a single irritant is manually inserted into millions of oysters at pearl farms around the world and then later harvested. Even with modern technology, however, only about half of the nucleated oysters even produce a pearl and only about 25% will be marketable to sell. Ultimately, only about 5% of the originally nucleated oysters will produce high-quality, gemstone pearls. As you can see, much work is involved in the pearl culturing business without a very high payoff, and this is after years of trying to hone and perfect the processes.

Consider, though. Pearls are documented as far back as the 5th century B.C. in Roman and Egyptian cultures. Here, they were referred to as the “Queen of Gems” and reserved for only the most wealthy and powerful. Why? Because before pearl culturing only became widely available in the 20th century, a naturally formed pearl was found in approximately one of every 10,000 mollusks. Imagine how long it would have taken to even form one necklace if you had to look in 500,000 oysters (or more) first! These pearls were indeed special and rare treasures. In addition, pearl diving was not without its difficulties. Most pearl oysters live in ocean depths beyond 10 feet, and ancient civilizations did not have scuba gear readily available! Divers had to avoid such dangers as sharks, jellyfish and other sea creatures, as well as decompression sickness from diving so deeply.

As a result of the above process, Romans valued pearls greatly. They viewed them as a symbol of wealth and status in society—so much so that they even tried to limit the wearing of pearls by those not deemed worthy enough. Can you now see why God would use this beautiful, but also exquisitely made, gemstone for such high purposes?

Sometimes it can take a little more effort to scratch the surface of a topic to see what lies below. In the case of pearls, a closer look shows the many layers of time, patience, beauty, uniqueness, and value that God created in the process underneath.

Source: American Museum of Natural History—Pearls, Pearl-Guide.com