osing structures that human pride can rear, and which are
fit for the residence of lofty kings; but it was of jasper, clear as
crystal. Think of the wall of this holy city being nearly three hundred
feet high and stretching around the city six thousand miles, all built
of the purest diamond! No stretch of the human imagination can properly
compass such a vision. In rearing earthly structures men seek such
material as combine durability, cheapness, beauty, and ease of being
wrought. Look at this wall! For _durability_, it has the most
indestructible material that can be found on earth. For _beauty_, the
language of man can not even convey a meagre description of its amazing
loveliness. For _cheapness_--God's riches were inexhaustible, hence it
was not necessary to take this into consideration. For _ease of being
wrought_--think of the vast amount of labor it requires to cut and shape
even one large diamond, it being said to require in some cases years of
incessant toil; yet God could afford to build the wall of this city of
such material. Oh, wonders of God's handiwork! How inexpressibly
glorious! This, my dear reader, symbolizes the priceless worth of our
eternal home, secured through the atonement. Study the plan of
redemption. There is nothing equal to it in the universe. "What is a man
profited, if he gain the whole world, and _lose his own soul_?"

Men become greatly agitated over the announcement of the discovery of
gold in the Klondyke, in the Australian continent, in California, and
with feverish excitement they abandon their homes and rush headlong to
the reputed El Dorado, fearing neither famine, storms, deserts, nor the
icy northern blasts. But all the gold ever mined from the bowels of the
earth is insignificant and forms no comparison with the representation
of this city. Its streets and mansions were built, not of common cement,
lumber, nor even granite and marble, but _of pure gold_.

The twelve courses of stone in the foundation of the wall have already
been mentioned. It is here particularly described. One might suppose
that, according to human custom, rougher material would be selected for
the foundation. Not so, however. The most brilliant and costly gems were
chosen to lay these courses. Nothing cheap nor common had anything to do
in the construction of this marvelous city. It was altogether beyond the
reach of men to imitate: it was God's own handiwork; and we can not but
admire its wondrous beauty.