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)
That is, after John had seen the vision of chs. 1:10 to 3:22. The words “after this” do not imply any chronological relationship between the closing events of the preceding vision and the one about to be related.
I looked.
Or, “I saw,” an expression John uses repeatedly to introduce new scenes or important new symbols (see on ch. 1:2).
A door.
Here the door, apparently, into the throne room of the universe (see v. 2; cf. on v. 5).
Opened.
Or, “standing open.”
In heaven.
Not, “into heaven,” as if John were on the outside looking in. Inasmuch, as looking within, he beheld the throne of God, this must have been a door opening upon the throne room of the universe. This throne room has been identified as the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary.
From a consideration of the state of the church on earth (chs. 1-3) John’s attention is now directed to a symbolic vision of the throne of God in heaven. That the description of God’s throne and the scene about it in chs. 4 and 5 is to be understood symbolically, rather than literally, is clear, for instance, from ch. 5:6, where Christ is described as “a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes,” yet alive and able to come and take the book from the hand of God. Inasmuch as this is obviously a highly symbolic figure, it follows that the whole prophetic incident is to be interpreted in the same way. In symbol the prophet can soar above the mundane and material objects of human life and reach the higher levels of the mind and heart with impressions of heaven that defy expression in literal language (see on Eze. 1:10).
The first voice.
The meaning of the original is more clearly expressed thus: “Behold, ... the first voice which I had heard as a trumpet speaking with me, was saying ...” This voice is doubtless that of ch. 1:10, which introduced the first vision and now introduces the second.
Come up hither.
An invitation to John to enter into vision, directing his senses away from his earthly surroundings and focusing them on heavenly things.
Hereafter.
That is, not necessarily after the fulfillment of the previous vision, but from the standpoint of John’s own time. Consequently, this statement parallels that of ch. 1:1 (see comment there).