Gretna however stretched their unlikely unbeaten run to three games.
The best chance of the first half fell to Killie's Iain Flannigan when he was put clear by Garry Hay. The young midfielder however lost his composure and Gretna keeper Artur Krysiak was able to dive at his feet and get a vital touch.
The ball appeared to break kindly for Paul Dalglish, but Flannigan compounded his error by taking the ball off his team-mate's toes and the chance was lost.
David Lilley almost put the home side ahead just before half-time, but Krysiak did well to stop his diving header.
Kilmarnock did take the lead in the 56th minute and it was created on the left wing by Danny Invincibile. The Australian's powerful run and cutback set up Flannigan, who controlled his shot well, the goalkeeper parried the ball out but only as far as David Fernandez, who shot home from a tight angle.
Gretna fought back and adopted a more attacking formation towards the end of the match and were rewarded in the 75th minute when Craig Barr met Gavin Skelton's corner.
His header was stopped on the line by Killie midfielder Jamie Hamill, but he could only head it up onto the crossbar and it rebounded kindly for Barr to volley home the equaliser from five yards.
Kilmarnock almost stole the victory in the final minute, but Krysiak made another good save tipping Invincibile's powerful shot over the crossbar.
The resultant corner gave Killie two further chances to score, but Gary Wales miskicked and Fernandez blazed over to the derision of the home support.