The vision
The book of Revelation begins with a bang: John has a vision of an amazing figure walking among the lampstands with stars in hand. It’s clear that this vision somehow sets the scope for the whole book — but what exactly is the message?
Overview
John — most likely the apostle (the traditional identification, though a minority of scholars have argued for a separate figure known as “John the Elder”) — is introduced as someone on the island of Patmos, exiled — by the widely-held tradition — for his testimony about Jesus, though whether this was formal Roman banishment or a self-chosen mission field is debated. The vision he receives of Jesus falls into three parts:
- the vision itself (verses 12–16),
- his reaction (verse 17a),
- and the interpretation (verses 17b through 20).
The vision
Several elements of the vision are worth pausing on:
- The lampstands. The first thing John sees is seven lampstands, most likely drawn from Zechariah — if you’re not familiar with that book, here is a brief summary. In that chapter, the seven lamps represent the Holy Spirit. Their identity here stays unclear until the interpretation later in the passage.
- The Son of Man. In the midst of the lampstands stands one like the Son of Man — a well-known image from Daniel that Jesus applied to himself. Since Jesus also holds the role of a priest, it is his responsibility to tend the lampstands, just as it was the priest’s job in the temple.
- Robe with a golden sash. The robe and sash Jesus wears could be read as a priestly garment or a royal one — an ambiguity that may well be intentional, since Jesus is presented as both priest and king.
- White hair. This echoes the vision of Daniel 7.
- Eyes like blazing fire, legs like burnished bronze, a loud voice. These are all characteristics of Daniel 10, where a figure identified as an angelic warrior prepares Daniel for his final vision — a role very much like the one this figure plays for John here.
So the Son of Man is combined with the “Ancient of Days” (God) from Daniel 7.
The response
John collapses, much like the visions of Daniel did to him.
The interpretation
Jesus confirms all the statements we saw that Jesus is the faithful witness, firstborn from the dead, and ruler of the kings of the earth, who freed us from our sins by his blood.
Finally, the mystery of the lampstands and stars is solved: they represent different descriptions of the church. So what does that mean?
The church is described through two different images, which share two things in common:
- Both are sources of light: the stars provide orientation in creation, and the lampstand is the only source of light in the temple.
- Both depend on Jesus: the stars cannot shine unless they are in his hand, and the lamp only stays lit if the oil — the Holy Spirit — is there.
The point of the church is to be light for the world, so that the world can be saved. That is the point of the book, and it is what the church is tested on: is the church a witness convincing enough to reach the nations?