A Jasper Stone

At the end of Revelation, the angel is showing John the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, and he writes that she has "the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal."

I don't know about you, but that never made much sense to me. I ain't seen no stones that light up. They're usually pretty dull. Even sparkly precious stones like diamonds and rubies need to be polished and cut so that the facets reflect the light in a pretty way.

During Israel's wilderness wanderings, God was in the pillar of fire that led His children. He was their light. Paul tells us that the rock which followed them around in the wilderness gave them their water of life, and that Rock was Christ.

In the psalter (119) we sing that the Word of God [Jesus] is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. In the psalter (118) we sing that the Stone which the builders rejected [Jesus] has become the chief Cornerstone.

This line from Revelation makes a lot more sense if you look at it in the background of Scripture's vocabulary instead of from the background of Earth Science.

Enlighten our darkness by the light of your Christ.
May His word be a lamp to our feet
and a light to our path.
For You are merciful,
and You love Your whole creation,
and we, Your creatures, glorify You,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

And, hey, you know what else? A few verses later in Rev 21, we hear that the walls of the heavenly city are made of jasper stone. Plug that into your "A mighty fortress is our God"!