“and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” – Rev 21:21
Pictured above is a 1,600-year-old jade green Roman artifact called the Lycurgus Cup. If the cup is lit from the front it is jade green, but when it is lit from behind it glows blood red. How did the Romans do this? The Roman artisan who made the chalice was a pioneer in nanotechnology. Teeny tiny particles of gold were added to the glass – particles so small they were just 50 nanometers in diameter. That means that these gold particles were less than one-thousandth the size of a grain of table salt. Not only did the Romans know this trick for turning glass red, but medieval stained glass window makers knew how to use ground up gold to illustrate the blood of Christ in their art.
Could it be that the streets and walls in the New Jerusalem (the administrative center of the New Heavens and New Earth) will also be red to remind us of the blood of Christ, the only reason believers will be able to live in such a beautiful place forever? As a blood-washed saint, I’m looking forward to seeing if I’m right about this.