he expression, “pearly gates”, does not occur in scripture; nor is Peter, the Apostle, associated with them, in scripture.

What John saw in vision and recorded in the Apocalypse – the Book of the Revelation – was that the twelve gates to the visionary city, named New Jerusalem, were, each one – a pearl.

Each gate was not made of the substance : pearl.

Each gate is a single pearl.

Pearl is not – as is commonly said – formed by a grain of sand causing irritation to the oyster. The process is started by an infection – either viral or bacterial. It is the presence of another kind of life – within – that begins, and continues, the process.

And what results is a laminated structure, laid down layer by layer, of both living tissue and chitinous substance. The compound is stronger than bone – as strong as tooth enamel.

The interaction of another kind of life, with the creature’s own life, internally, produces something that is structurally strong, desirably beautiful and so exceedingly precious that a discerning merchant would sell everything else, just to possess a prime example of such an item.

This is how to enter the kingdom of heaven, now; and this is how to enter the heavenly city, for ever.