It seems more likely that it’s a mistranslation of “thick rope”, which is basically the same as the word for “camel” in Aramaic. It makes way more sense that way. Why would a camel go through the eye of a needle? That’s just absurd. A rope is the same kind of thing you would put through the eye of the needle, it’s just way too thick. And the fact that a single fiber from a rope could fit if you peeled away all the excess, makes it a much more apt metaphor.