1 Upon our jour­ney here be­low,
We meet with pain and loss;
Sometimes there is a crown of thorns,
Sometimes the hea­vy cross.
The drea­ry road to Cal­va­ry,
The bit­ter goad and sting,
But what’s in­side those gates of pearl
Will be worth ev­ery­thing.

Refrain:
When we’re in­side the gates of pearl,
We’ll learn a lot of things;
We’ll have a harp that’s made of gold,
Perhaps a thou­sand strings;
We’ll sing and shout and dance ab­out,
The Lamb will dry our tears;
We’ll have a grand home-com­ing week,
The first ten thou­sand years.

2 The sha­dows now be­gin to fall,
The time is draw­ing nigh,
When Christ our Lord shall come again
Like light­ning from the sky.
And while we wait and suf­fer here,
Praise God, we’ll shout and sing,
For one glimpse thro’ those gates of pearl
Will be worth ev­ery­thing. [Refrain]

3 The pre­cious blood of God’s own Son
Has saved and sanc­ti­fied
A won­drous peop­le for His name,
And they are called the bride.
Tho’ here ne­glect­ed and des­pised,
One day, the Lord will bring
His chos­en ones with­in the gates,
And that’s worth ev­ery­thing. [Refrain]