'Mere Christianity', bk 3, ch. 10

    "There is no need to be worried by facetious people who try to make the Christian hope of 'Heaven' ridiculous by saying they do not want 'to spend eternity playing harps'. The answer to such people is that if they cannot understand books written for grown-ups, they should not talk about them. All the scriptural imagery (harps, crowns, gold, etc.) is, of course, a merely symbolic attempt to express the inexpressible. Musical instruments are mentioned because for many people (not all) music is the thing known in the present life that most suggests ecstasy and infinity. Crowns are mentioned to suggest the fact that those who are united with God in eternity share his splendor and power and joy.  gold is mentioned to suggest the timelessness of Heaven (gold does not rust) and the preciousness of it. People who take these symbols literally might as well think that when Christ told us to be like doves, he meant we were to lay eggs." --Mere Christianity, bk 3, ch. 10






I personally feel that there are a few things I ought to add here. 

1) When the Bible says that heaven's roads are paved with Gold, it not only means what is mentioned above, but it also shows that the things which were most precious in the mortal life are so worthless in comparison to what heaven has in store that the people there pave their friking roads with it. there is no reason a given passage couldn't have multiple meanings.  (I wonder if people in Hell say valuable things are "worth their weight in asphalt" or such.) 

2) One ought to realize that the scripture mentioned in here is just an example.  Insisting on interpreting the Bible literally is foolish no matter the nature of a given passage, for again, "People who take these symbols literally might as well think that when Christ told us to be like doves, he meant we were to lay eggs." Whether it be scriptural imagery, or certain events near the beginning of the Bible.