Revelation 4:4: And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

John saw four and twenty seats (thrones)¹ round about the throne of God² in heaven (celestial paradise).³ The 24 thrones were surrounded by a full-circle emerald rainbow in a horizontal plane.⁴ Four and twenty elders sat upon the thrones.⁵ These 24 Elders in celestial paradise are obviously a distinct and separate class of persons from the more than 100 million angels in Revelation 5:11, which are disembodied spirits located in spirit prison of the same postmortal spirit world.⁶

The word elders has several meanings,⁷ but the 24 Elders have a specific meaning which the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants Section 77:5.⁸ This verse states that the 24 Elders are those that "had been faithful in the work of the ministry and were dead; who belonged to the seven churches, and were then in the paradise of God."⁹ In other words, John saw 24 specific men¹⁰ whose righteous spirits were at rest (i.e., seated)¹¹ in the celestial paradise of the postmortal spirit world at the time of his vision in 96 AD.¹² The 24 Elders were and still are in paradise awaiting their celestial resurrection¹³ that will occur at the time of Christ's Second Coming.¹⁴

The 24 Elders represent¹⁵ all exaltation-worthy saints whose disembodied spirits were in paradise at the time of John's vision in 96 AD¹⁶ or those that die thereafter and enter paradise to await the morning of the first resurrection at the Second Coming.¹⁷ There are 24 representative elders because 24 is the priesthood number twelve (12), doubled.¹⁸ By doubling the priesthood number, the meaning of the message is enhanced.¹⁹ This may include the idea of an enlargement of the priesthood that leads ultimately to a fulness of the priesthood,²⁰ which is the patriarchal (royal)²¹ priesthood.²² Most scholars agree that the 24 Elders represent others like them, but they erroneously connect the 24 Elders with the 24 courses of the Levitical Priesthood established by King David.²³ David's 24 courses has typological significance,²⁴ but falls short of the complete meaning revealed to Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants Section 77:5.

Many scholars also believe that the 24 Elders represent the whole church,²⁵ which they describe as any of the following: (1) The twelve tribes of Israel doubled to account for both Jews and Gentiles,²⁶ (2) the twelve Old Testament patriarchs coupled with twelve apostles in the New Testament,²⁷ or (3) the gospel of the Old and New Testaments.²⁸

The 24 Elders actually represent people from all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples in all ages,²⁹ who become members of the Church of the Firstborn³⁰ at the Second Coming.³¹ In John's forward-looking vision³² the 24 Elders represent saints of the millennial church ³³ rather than the limited view of saints of the Old Testament. All exaltation-worthy saints that died before Christ's resurrection were resurrected with him from both the eastern and western hemispheres.³⁴ They included the people of Enoch³⁵ and others that were translated³⁶ before the time of Christ.³⁷ Since all the Old Testament saints were resurrected with Christ, their disembodied spirits were no longer in celestial paradise of the postmortal spirit world to be represented by the 24 Elders at the time of John's vision in 96 AD.³⁸ Therefore, the 24 Elders (twice the priesthood number) in John's vision may symbolically represent exaltation-worthy saints in paradise from the two hemispheres–east and west.³⁹

The 24 Elders were clothed in white raiment because they were and are worthy of resurrection to exaltation in the celestial kingdom.⁴⁰ They also had, and still have, crowns of gold⁴¹ to symbolize their right to rule⁴² as exalted kings and queens following their resurrection.⁴³ Their status in celestial paradise is a type and foreshadow of their status after their resurrection to the celestial kingdom.⁴⁴

The question may be asked why exaltation-worthy saints in paradise are represented by the 24 Elders from the seven churches in John's vision, as opposed to any number of exaltation-worthy saints from the Old Testament? The answer is undoubtedly because Doctrine and Covenants Section 77:5 expressly places the spirits of the 24 Elders in celestial paradise at the time of John's vision in 96 AD. None of the exaltation-worthy saints from the Old Testament were disembodied spirits in paradise to act in such a representative capacity because they were resurrected with Christ almost 60 years earlier. Therefore, the exaltation-worthy saints before Christ's resurrection were resurrected gods as of about 34 AD, not disembodied angels in celestial paradise.⁴⁵