Revelation 4

4 After this I looked, and lo, in heaven an open door! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up hither, and I will show you what must take place after this." 2At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne! 3And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald. 4Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads. 5From the throne issue flashes of lightning, and voices and peals of thunder, and before the throne burn seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God; 6and before the throne there is as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. 8And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing,

Holy, holy, holy,
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!

9And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,

11Worthy art thou, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for thou didst create all things,
and by thy will they existed and were created.

After the Letters, Jesus ("the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet") calls John to come up, and John is brought to Heaven "in the spirit". When John gets there, he sees the throneroom of heaven, described with allusions to Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1 and 10. God is seen as sitting on the Throne, composed, it seems, of the most precious stones, and surrounded by His Glory like a rainbow of emerald. Around the Throne of God are 24 other thrones, with 24 Elders on them, clothed in white, with gold crowns. These 24 Elders equal the 24 priestly divisions of the Levitical code in the Old Testament, and they are priests. Elders, in the Greek, is the word presbyteroi, which is where we get our English word "Priests." Keep that in mind when reading the New Testament, when it discusses Elders in the Church (like James 5:13-16).

These 24 Priests in Revelation are liturgically dressed in white vestments and are prepared to offer worship to God. Most scholars feel that they are the 12 Fathers of the 12 Tribes of Israel, and the 12 Apostles--together the representatives of God's Covenant People. Along with these Priests are numerous angelic beings: The seven spirits of God, the Archangels (cf. Tobit 12:15), the Four Living Creatures, who are covered with eyes, and each have 6 wings, representing their vigilance and swiftness in God's service. Their heads each represent the greatest creatures in God's creation: The Bull is the greatest domestic animal, the Eagle is the greatest of the birds, the Lion is the greatest Beast, and Man is the greatest of all Creation. Hence, these 4 creatures are representative of all God's creation. Four, as well, is a symbolic number recurring often in Revelation, symbolising completeness or wholeness. Notably, in Christian iconography, each of these creatures is assigned to one of the Four Gospels.

Their worship is antiphonal, or responsorial. When the Four Living Creatures praise God (v. 8), the 24 Elders respond with praise of their own. This Heavenly Liturgy, according to verse 8, is unending! The Holy, Holy, Holy is echoed in the Mass, known in the West as the Sanctus, and in the East as the "Trisagion".

Heaven here is described as resembling the Jewish Temple, with its priests, Mennorah, the "glassy sea" (the large pool of polished bronze that held 11,500 gallons of water), and the Altar (chapter 5, verse 9). Or rather, it should be said that the earthly Temple in Jerusalem resembled the Eternal Throneroom of God, as the Book of Wisdom tells us,

You have bidden me build a temple on your holy mountain,
and an altar in the city where you have pitched your tent,
a copy of the holy Tent which you prepared at the beginning. (9:8, NJB)

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