Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.”
Parallel translations
- WEB After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was one saying, “Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this.”
- KJV After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
- BSB After this I looked and saw a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had previously heard speak to me like a trumpet was saying, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.”
- NKJV After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
- NASB After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
John is summoned through an open door into heaven to be shown future things. The scene shifts from earthly churches to the heavenly throne room that governs all history.
Overview
Having addressed the churches, the vision now turns heavenward, grounding everything that follows in God's sovereign rule. The trumpet-like voice (Christ's, from 1:10) invites John 'up here,' a glimpse of heaven's reality breaking into view. This open door reassures suffering believers that history's unfolding is directed from God's throne, not by hostile earthly powers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Rev 11:12I heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” They went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them.
- Exod 24:12Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.”
- Rev 1:19Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter;
- Rev 1:10I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet
- Mark 1:10Immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens parting, and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
- Rev 1:1–3This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John,
- Exod 34:2–3Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.
- Rev 16:17The seventh poured out his bowl into the air. A loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”
- Rev 22:6He said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must happen soon.”
- John 16:13However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.
- Acts 7:56and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
- Exod 19:24Yahweh said to him, “Go down! You shall bring Aaron up with you, but don’t let the priests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest he break out against them.”
- Luke 3:21Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also had been baptized, and was praying. The sky was opened,
- Matt 3:16Jesus, when he was baptized, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him.
- Acts 10:11He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him, like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth,
- Exod 1:1Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):
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Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 4:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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