485. EXPOSITION. Verses 1-4. And when he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven as it were for half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stood before God; and there were given unto them seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which is before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended out of the angel's hand before God. 1. "And when he opened the seventh seal," signifies prediction respecting the last state of the church (n. 486); "there was silence in heaven," signifies astonishment that the church is such and that its end is at hand (n. 487); "as it were for half an hour," signifies a time corresponding to, or the delay before, the preparation of all things for undergoing the changes that follow (n. 488). 2. "And I saw the seven angels who stood before God," signifies all the heavens more interiorly and more closely conjoined to the Lord (n. 489); "and there were given unto them seven trumpets," signifies influx from them, and consequent changes of state and separations (n. 489). 3. "And another angel came and stood at the altar," signifies the conjunction of heaven with the Lord through celestial good (n. 490); "having a golden censer," signifies the conjunction of that good with spiritual good, and thus the conjunction of the higher heavens (n. 491); "and there was given unto him much incense," signifies truths in abundance (n. 492); "that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which is before the throne," signifies the conjunction [of the heavens] with those who must be separated from the evil and saved (n. 493). 4. "And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended out of the angel's hand before God," signifies the conjunction of all with the Lord (n. 494).