Pearly gates is an informal name for the gateway toHeaven according to someChristian denominations. It is inspired by the description of theNew Jerusalem inRevelation 21:21: "The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl."[1]
The image of the gates in popular culture is a set of large gold, white, or wrought-iron gates in the clouds, guarded bySaint Peter (the keeper of the "keys to the kingdom"). Those not fit to enter heaven are denied entrance at the gates, and descend intoHell.[2] In some versions of this imagery, Peter looks up the deceased's name in a book, before opening the gate.
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The passage moves from a building, to gates, to keys. A popular image has Peter as the doorkeeper of heaven, deciding admission through the pearly gates to each person at death. This understanding of Peter goes back to an early medieval interpretation that identified Peter with a figure in Germanic mythology who was the porter of heaven.
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