White Stone

Each of the seven letters to the churches of Asia ends with a promised blessing to those who overcome (Revelation 2-3). The letter to Pergamum ends with a triple promise of “hidden manna,” “a white stone,”and a “new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it” (2:17). The reference to a “white stone” has long been a puzzle. What might it mean?

We can gain a couple of clues from the context. First, the letter to Pergamum employs wilderness era imagery throughout. The enemies of the church are Balaam and Balak (Numbers 22-24), the sins are the sins that Israel committed at Baal Peor (Numbers 2), and one of the promised blessings is manna, the bread of wandering. Whatever the white stone is, we can surmise it fits into this set of imagery.

Second, and more specifically, Jesus promises not merely manna but hidden manna. That must refer to the jar of manna hidden in the ark (Exodus 16:33; Hebrews 9:4). Since the white stone and the name are linked with the hidden manna, we might surmise that the stone has something to do with the ark of the covenant.

Once we set these parameters, a few possibilities seem promising. Only the high priest had (very limited) access to the most holy place where the hidden manna was kept, and the high priest wore a stone (gold) crown that had Yahweh’s name on it. Alternatively, the white stone might refer to the gemstones of the high priest’s breastplate and the onyx stones on his shoulders, both of which are inscribed with the names of Israel’s tribes. Whichever direction we go, the stones are associated with the high priest and thus with access to the hidden manna. 

The color points in a different direction. When Korah challenged Aaron’s priestly credentials (Numbers 16), the Lord told leaders of each tribe to inscribe their name on a rod (Numbers 17). The rods were placed in the sanctuary, and Aaron’s privileged status was confirmed when the Lord made his rod sprout, blossom, and bear ripe almonds (Numbers 17:8-9), which are white. There’s a pun in the Hebrew, since the word for “almond” means “watcher”; by turning Aaron’s rod into a “watcher tree,” the Lord confirmed that Aaron was the one to watch and guard His house. With the white blossoms and the almonds, Aaron was designated as the one who guarded (among other things) the hidden store of manna.

The white stone thus seems to conflate several images from the wilderness sanctuary – the inscribed crown of the high priest, the gems of his breastplate, the white flower that sprang from the rod that bore his name. Each is a marker of priestly privilege. When Jesus promises manna, a stone, and a name to the victors in Pergamum, he is promising to make them priests and more than  priests.