John may subscribe to the idea that the desert tabernacle and the Jerusalem temple were models of the cosmos (see Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews 3.6.4 §§122-23; 3.7.7 §§180-81; Philo, The Special Laws 1.66). We have already encountered the accoutrements of the holy places and inner courts in John’s heaven (Revelation 6:9; 8:3-5) and will aga

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In his description of these, John makes use of symbolism drawn from many parts of the Old Testament: the earthquake from Haggai (2:6), the sun turned black and the moon turned to blood from Joel (2:31), the stars fallen from heaven like figs from a fig tree (Isaiah 34:4), and the sky rolled up like a scroll (Isaiah 34:4). The use of cosmic convulsi

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