A moment the veil grew thin
John's Open Door on Patmos
Exiled on a rocky island for the word of God, John heard a trumpet-voice and saw a door standing open in heaven. Through that door he was called up to behold the throne room, and the whole vision of Revelation began to unfold.
“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.”Revelation 4:1
What happened
What happened. In Revelation 4, after the letters to the seven churches, John writes, 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. Immediately, John says, I was in the spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four elders in white, with crowns of gold, and out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. Before it burned seven lamps of fire, the seven Spirits of God, and there was a sea of glass like unto crystal. Four living creatures full of eyes rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And the elders fall down and cast their crowns before the throne, worshipping Him that liveth for ever and ever.
What it opened
What it opened. The open door on Patmos opened the throne room of heaven to a suffering, exiled apostle and, through him, to the persecuted churches he served. Above all the turmoil of the seven churches and all the trouble the visions would later disclose, John is shown the settled center of reality: a throne, and One seated upon it, reigning. This is comfort of the deepest kind for the afflicted people of God, that heaven is not empty or anxious, but filled with unceasing worship of the Almighty who was, and is, and is to come. The door was opened so that the church might see behind the veil of history to the sovereign rule and holiness of God. The natural response, modeled by the elders, is worship and the casting down of crowns. We should not read Revelation's opened heaven as a promise that we may ascend at will; it was a specific prophetic gift to John, in the Spirit, for the comfort and warning of the church. Its enduring word is that the throne stands, God reigns, and heaven's worship never ceases.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. The open door of Revelation 4 leads straight to Christ, for in the very next chapter the one worthy to open the sealed book is the Lamb as it had been slain, who alone can unfold the purposes of God. The rainbow about the throne is the same mercy Ezekiel glimpsed, now surrounding the seat of the Lamb who was slain and lives. John's open door is the standing fulfillment of the Lord's promise, ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man (John 1:51). And the door is open at all only because the Lamb was slain, for by His blood we have boldness to enter into the holiest, by a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh (Hebrews 10:19-20). The throne room John enters in vision is the home the one Mediator has secured for His people. The exile on Patmos saw an open door; the church knows the door is a Person, the crucified and risen Lord.
Questions people ask
What is the meaning of the open door in heaven?
It is the way by which John was called up in the Spirit to behold the throne room and receive the visions of Revelation. More deeply, it declares that heaven stands open to God's people, an access secured by Christ. The next chapter shows it opens onto the Lamb who alone is worthy.
Why does the vision begin with the throne rather than events on earth?
Because the throne is the settled center of reality, and everything that follows must be read in its light. For persecuted churches, the first and greatest comfort is that God reigns and heaven is full of worship. Revelation steadies the suffering by showing the sovereign God before it shows the storms.
Does this mean believers can enter heaven in vision as John did?
No. John's rapture in the Spirit was a particular prophetic gift for delivering Revelation to the churches, not a pattern to seek. Yet its comfort is ours: through Christ, heaven's door stands open, God reigns, and one day we shall join the worship John was shown.