Revelation 1:19: Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.

The Savior directs John to write three things specifically¹ while John was still in the spirit on Patmos island.² They include things which thou hast seen. This refers to John's vision of Christ in Revelation chapter 1.³ John was also told to write the things which are. This refers to John's vision of the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.⁴ Finally, he was told to write the things which shall be hereafter. This refers primarily to the future events John saw in Revelation chapters 4 to 22.⁵

The Book of Revelation content is largely dictated by what Christ tells John to write in this verse.⁶ The apocalyptic vision reveals knowledge, which is truth from the past, present, and future.⁷ This truth is centered in Jesus Christ, who is and who was and who is to come.⁸

Revelation 1:20: The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

The last verse in Revelation chapter 1 explains the mystery⁹ of the seven stars in the favored right hand of Christ.¹⁰ They are the angels¹¹ of the seven churches.¹² The Joseph Smith Translation identifies them as seven servants.¹³ In other words, they were the congregational leaders in the seven churches of Asia.¹⁴ In this period of ancient church history, these local clergymen were called bishops or elders.¹⁵ They were Christ's light bearers,¹⁶ but they did not have apostolic authority.¹⁷

The seven candlesticks... are the seven churches which hold up the light of Christ.¹⁸ Christ is in their midst, but the seven churches (candlesticks) stand independent from each other.¹⁹ They stand independent because the twelve apostles were no longer alive²⁰ to provide centralized apostolic authority for the church as a whole.²¹

Christ explains these symbols to John early in the vision because John uses these symbols as he writes individual letters to the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.²²