The tenth is translucent bluish-green and green chrysopras (chrysoprase). The eleventh is a transparent red hyacinth. And the twelfth base is purple amethyst. 310   "And the twelve gates are twelve pearls: each gate was of one pearl. The street of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass" (Rev. 21:21).

The prophet Isaiah has a similar description: "I will put your stones on a ruby, and I will make your foundation of sapphires" (Isa. 54, 11). And the prophet Moses said that God would lay the foundation of the city on diamonds, sapphires and rubies. Why on these materials? The fact is that when God revealed to Moses the details of the structure of the New Jerusalem, he, in particular, ordered to make sacred vestments for the high priest.

And one of the main elements of this vestment was the so-called confidante – a square scarf worn on the chest, with twelve precious stones. Here is how it is said in the Scriptures: "Make the breastplate of judgment with skillful work; Thou shalt make it the same work as the ephod: of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet [wool], and of fine woven linen, thou shalt make it; it must be quadrangular, double, a span long and a span wide; and thou shalt put in it the set stones in four rows; Next to it: ruby, topaz, emerald — this is one row; second row: carbuncle, sapphire and diamond; third row: yakhont, agate and amethyst; fourth row: chrysolite, onyx and jasper; they must be inserted in the golden sockets.

These stones shall be twelve, according to the number of the children of Israel, according to their names [and their births]; on each, as on a seal, one name from among the twelve tribes should be carved. For the breastplate make chains of woven and woven work of pure gold; and thou shalt make two rings of gold to the breastplate, and fasten the two rings to the two ends of the breastplate; And in the day two braided chains of gold in both rings at the ends of the breastplate, and the two ends of the two chains shall be fastened to the two sockets, and fastened to the shoulder plates of the ephod on the front of it. And thou shalt also make two rings of gold, and fasten them to the two ends of the breastplate, on the side which is 311   it lies to the ephod within; And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and fasten them to the two shoulders of the ephod from below, on the front of it, at the junction thereof, above the girdle of the ephod. And they shall fasten the breastplate with the rings thereof to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue wool, that it may be over the girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not fall from the ephod.

And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel on the breastplate of judgment near his heart, when he shall enter into the sanctuary, for a constant remembrance before the Lord. [And put twisted chains on the breastplate of judgment, put them at both ends of the breastplate, and put both sockets on both shoulders on the shoulder on the shoulder from the face.] On the breastplate of judgment thou shalt put the Urim and Thummim, and they shall be in Aaron's heart when he enters before the Lord. and Aaron shall always bear the judgment of the children of Israel in his heart before the Lord" (Isaiah 28:15-30).

Why is the breastplate called judgmental? The well-known theologian D. V. Shchedrovitsky in his book "Introduction to the Old Testament" answers this question as follows: "The Urim and Thummim, a mysterious device connected with the twelve stones in the breastplate and not described in detail in the Bible, gave the high priest the opportunity to directly question the Lord about His will in relation to the people and to receive direct answers to specific questions that gave "perfect light."

Answers were given through the jewels of the breastplate. Collectively, the names of the twelve tribes of Israel contain all 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The letters were used to form the words of the answer. At the same time, on each stone, the name of the corresponding knee was written in a circle, each letter was written on a separate facet, and each face was covered with a separate movable gold "petal" of the setting.

Each of the "petals", in turn, could rise, revealing the letter under it, or descend, covering it. After a special prayer and the proclamation of the question 312   turned to the Lord, individual "petals" miraculously rose, multi-colored rays emanated from the open edges of the precious stones, and the letters became clearly visible.

It was from these letters that the words containing the answer from above were composed. Since the stones in the breastplate were arranged in four rows, the answers were divided into four categories. The stones of the first, upper row gave answers to questions relating to the Divine service, the fulfillment of the commandments, the needs of the priests and Levites; the stones of the second row are for questions related to the life of the entire nation as a whole (

issues of war and peace, politics and economics, etc.); the stones of the third row are for questions relating to the life of individual tribes; finally, the stones of the fourth row revealed the will of the Almighty in relation to individual people. Thus, for example, about the successor of Moses, Joshua, who in a certain sense had the status of king, the Lord gave the following instruction: "And he shall speak to Eleazar the priest and ask him about the decision by means of the Urim before the Lord; and according to his word they shall go out, and according to his word they shall enter in, and all the children of Israel with him, and all the congregation" (Num. 27:21).

In the days of the first Temple, the king appealed to the high priest on behalf of all the people for an answer from the Lord through the Urim and Thummim. For example, it is said of King Saul, after God had rejected him for his grievous sins: "And Saul inquired of the Lord; but the Lord answered him neither in sleep, nor through the Urim nor through the prophets" (1 Samuel 28:6). In the Second Temple era, after the Babylonian captivity, the Urim and Thummim were lost, as were many other sacred objects of the First Temple.

Therefore, the high priest could no longer directly question the Lord through the Urim and Thummim. The book of Ezra tells of priests whose genealogy was questionable because genealogical records had been lost 313   after the destruction of the first Temple. They searched for their genealogy record and did not find it, and therefore they were expelled from the priesthood.

"And Tirshatha said to them that they should not eat of the great holy thing, until the priest arises with the Urim and Thummim" (Ezra. 2, 62-63). Such important questions as the question of the priesthood could only be decided by revelation from above, through the Urim and Thummim." Thus, according to the interpretation of St. Andrew of Caesarea, the twelve foundations of the city are "twelve costly stones, eight of which were worn on the shoulder plate of the ancient high priest, and four were new, in order to show the agreement of the New Testament with the Old and the pre-eminence of those who shone forth in it."

The meaning of these twelve stones is as follows: "The first foundation, jasper, is a greenish stone, signifying the supreme Apostle Peter, who bore in his body the deadness of Christ and showed a blossoming and unfading love for Him; the second, sapphire, from which azure also comes, denotes the blessed Paul, caught up even to the third heaven; the third, Chalcedon, is apparently the same as the aneraks, which was in the high priestly shoulder plate, signifying Blessed Andrew the Apostle, like a coal kindled by the Spirit; the fourth, smaragdus, having a green color, feeding on oil and receiving from it brilliance and beauty, signifies the holy Evangelist John, who softens the regret and despondency that occurs in us from sins with the Divine oil, and by the precious gift of Theology grants us a faith that never weakens; the fifth, sardonyx, a stone bearing the color of a shining human nail, signifies Jacob, who was the first to suffer bodily mortification for Christ; the sixth, sardisium, is orange in colour and brilliant stone, which is curative of swellings and ulcers from iron, signifies the beauty of the virtues of the blessed Philip 314   enlightened by the fire of the Divine Spirit and healing the spiritual wounds of the corrupt; the seventh, the chrysoliph, shining like gold, signifies, perhaps, Bartholomew, resplendent with precious virtues and Divine preaching; the octopus — virillus — having the color of the sea and air, denotes Thomas, who made a long journey to save the Indians; ninth, topazium, a black stone, exuding, as they say, a milk-like juice, healing for those suffering from eye diseases, denotes Blessed Matthew, who heals the blind in heart with the Gospel and gives milk to newborns in faith; the tenth, chrysopras, surpassing in brilliance the gold itself, signifies the blessed Thaddeus, who preached to Augarus, king of Edessa, the Kingdom of Christ, signified by gold, and the deadness in it, signified by pras.162 the first ten – Hyacinth – azure or sky-shaped hyacinth, plausibly designates Simon as a zealot of Christ's gifts, having heavenly wisdom; the second ten – the amephist – a scarlet stone in color, denotes Matthias, who was vouchsafed the Divine fire at the division of tongues and for his fiery inclination to please Him Who chose the place of the fallen one."