Revelation 4:2: And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

After Jesus Christ beckoned John to come up hither in Revelation 4:1,¹ John was immediately in the spirit.² This means that John was raised to a higher spiritual state³ and probably transported physically by the spirit⁴ from Patmos island to a place in heaven.⁵

The King James Version of Revelation 4:2 indicates that John saw a throne⁶ set in heaven,⁷ which refers to celestial paradise in the postmortal spirit world.⁸ The original Greek manuscript for this verse indicates that at the time of John's vision the throne in heaven was still in the process of being set.⁹ That's because celestial paradise was and still is a dynamic and growing kingdom of disembodied spirits awaiting their resurrection.¹⁰

The eternal and omnipresent Father¹¹ is the one¹² who sat on the throne.¹³ Some scholars identify this enthroned person as Jesus Christ.¹⁴ That cannot be true, however, because the same vision identifies Jesus standing before the throne as the Lamb of God in Revelation 5:6-7.¹⁵ In a related vein, Christ will not be coronated to sit with God on an earthly throne of glory until the council is held at Adam-ondi-Ahman 3½ years before the Second Coming.¹⁶ Therefore, John's vision of celestial paradise in Revelation chapter 4 (as of 96 AD) predates Christ's coronation to an earthly throne‒and by extension his place on a heavenly throne‒until almost 2000 years later at Adam-ondi-Ahman.¹⁷

Revelation 4:3: And 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.

John symbolically described the glory of God the Father¹⁸ as one who sat upon (ruled from) his throne.¹⁹ John did not specifically describe God's glorified person as other prophets have.²⁰ Instead, John used symbolic images to identify the Father, which faithful saints can understand and recognize.²¹ However, the symbols were also sufficiently vague²² that unbelievers and misguided saints could not create idols to be worshipped based on the symbolic images John used to describe God.²³

The jasper and sardine stone are emblematic of God's glory,²⁴ even though they do not do justice to the glory and majesty of God's person.²⁵ The two stones were respectively the last and first stones set in the breastplate worn by the ancient high priest in Israel.²⁶ Jasper was also the first stone in the foundation for the heavenly city of Jerusalem in Revelation chapter 21,²⁷ and the sardine (sardius) stone was the sixth.²⁸ The two stones may symbolize God's power over life and death²⁹ because the jasper is mostly green in color³⁰ while the sardine is blood red³¹ to signify wrath and judgment.³² The jasper stone may have additional meanings, however, because there are multi-colored varieties, ³³ and in Revelation 21:18 the jasper is said to be clear as crystal.³⁴

In John's vision of celestial paradise, a predominating green color was present in the emerald colored³⁵ rainbow round about the throne.³⁶ The rainbow apparently laid flat in a horizontal plane around the throne to encircle the 24 Elders whose thrones were in the same plane with the Father's throne.³⁷ The emerald color is a symbol of Christ³⁸ and his mercy.³⁹

The emerald rainbow alludes to the multi-colored rainbow that first appeared in the days of Enoch⁴⁰ and Noah.⁴¹ After the flood, the rainbow became a sign or token of God's unbreakable covenant⁴² that he would never destroy the earth again by a universal flood of water.⁴³ Another rainbow is mentioned in Revelation 10:1 to symbolize the destruction of the world by fire that will engulf the earth at Christ's Second Coming.⁴⁴ Although the rainbow in Revelation chapter 10 is associated with death and destruction of the wicked, the rainbow remains a symbol of God's unchanging power to save the righteous even by the destruction of the wicked.⁴⁵