The Meaning of Revelation 15:5 Explained

Revelation 15:5

KJV: And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:

YLT: And after these things I saw, and lo, opened was the sanctuary of the tabernacle of the testimony in the heaven;

Darby: And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of witness in the heaven was opened;

ASV: And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  after  that  I looked,  and,  behold,  the temple  of the tabernacle  of the testimony  in  heaven  was opened: 

What does Revelation 15:5 Mean?

Verse Meaning

"After these things I looked" (Gr. meta tauta eidon) indicates a transition to a new vision and a new subject: the bowl judgments. These are in a category of their own. John saw the heavenly temple opened. This gave the seven angels who carried the bowl judgments egress from God"s presence. He is the one who sends them. The "tabernacle of testimony" refers to the temple as the building that housed God"s law, which the earth-dwellers disregard. God was now going to hold them to it and judge them by it.

Context Summary

Revelation 15:1-8 - The Song Of Moses And Of The Lamb
The imagery in the magnificent scene with which this chapter opens is perhaps borrowed from Pharaoh's overthrow in the Red Sea, which, as the rich lines of an Eastern dawn illuminated its waters, seemed like a sea of glass mingled with fire. So, beside the crystal sea of Time, from whose surface all traces of storm will have been removed and on which the eternal morning will be breaking, we, who by grace have overcome, shall celebrate the final victory of God. We shall sing an anthem in which the Hebrew and the Christian, the children of the old dispensation and of the new, the souls who have seen through a glass darkly and those who have beheld face to face, shall rejoice together.
One day we shall see the rightfulness of all that God has done, Revelation 15:4. All His ways are just and true, whether our poor human sense detects this or not. Let us dare to affirm it even now. Ponder that great name-King of the ages, Revelation 15:3, r.v. He only is holy; we need the perfect cleansing and righteousness which He gives us, that we may dare to stand in His presence. From this radiant vision, we turn sadly to the fate of the godless, Christ-rejecting world. See Revelation 15:1-8; Revelation 14:1-20; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 12:1-17; Revelation 11:1-19; Revelation 10:1-11; Revelation 9:1-21; Revelation 8:1-13. [source]

Chapter Summary: Revelation 15

1  The seven angels with the seven last plagues
3  The song of those who overcame the beast
7  The seven bowls full of the wrath of God

Greek Commentary for Revelation 15:5

The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony [ο ναος της σκηνης του μαρτυριου]
Charles calls this “strange” language. Probably the tabernacle or tent of witness (Numbers 9:15; Numbers 17:7) is in mind and the tent of meeting (Exodus 27:21 rather than the temple in Jerusalem. [source]
Was opened [ηνοιγη]
Second aorist passive indicative of ανοιγω — anoigō as in Revelation 11:19. For ναος — naos see Revelation 3:12; Revelation 7:15; Revelation 14:15, Revelation 14:17; Revelation 16:1, Revelation 16:17. [source]
Behold []
Omit. [source]
The temple of the tabernacle [ὁ ναὸς τῆς σκηνῆς]
The sanctuary of the tabernacle. See on Matthew 4:5. [source]
Of the testimony []
See Acts 7:44. The tabernacle was called “the Tabernacle of the Testimony” because it contained the ark with the law of God which testifies against sin. See Exodus 25:16, Exodus 25:21; Exodus 30:36; Exodus 34:29; Exodus 38:21. Compare Revelation 11:19. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Revelation 15:5

Revelation 11:19 Was opened [ηνοιγη]
Second aorist passive indicative of ανοιγω — anoigō with augment on the preposition as in Revelation 15:5. For the sanctuary (ναος — naos) of God in heaven see Revelation 3:12; Revelation 7:15; Revelation 15:5.; Revelation 21:22. [source]
Revelation 19:10 See thou do it not [ορα μη]
Repeated in Revelation 22:9. Here there is no verb after μη — mē (ellipse of ποιησηις τουτο — poiēsēis touto) as in Mark 1:44; 1 Thessalonians 5:15), the aorist subjunctive of negative purpose with μη — mē after ορα — hora (present active imperative of οραω — horaō), a common enough idiom.Fellow-servant (συνδουλος — sundoulos). The angel refuses worship from John on this ground. All Christians are συνδουλοι — sundouloi (fellow-servants) as Christ taught (Matthew 18:28.; Matthew 24:49) and as Paul (Colossians 1:7; Colossians 4:7) and John (Revelation 6:11) taught. Angels are God‘s servants also (Hebrews 1:4-14). For “the testimony of Jesus” see Revelation 1:2, Revelation 1:9; Revelation 6:9; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 22:4.Worship God And Christ, who is the Son of God (Revelation 5:13.).The spirit of prophecy (το πνευμα της προπητειας — to pneuma tēs prophēteias). Explanatory use of γαρ — gar (for) here as in Revelation 19:8. The possession of the prophetic spirit shows itself in witness to Jesus. In illustration see Mark 1:10; Matthew 3:16; Luke 3:21; John 1:51; Revelation 4:1; Revelation 10:1; Revelation 11:19; Revelation 14:17; Revelation 15:5; Revelation 18:1; Revelation 19:1, Revelation 19:7-9. [source]
Revelation 19:10 Worship God [τωι τεωι προσκυνησον]
And Christ, who is the Son of God (Revelation 5:13.).The spirit of prophecy (το πνευμα της προπητειας — to pneuma tēs prophēteias). Explanatory use of γαρ — gar (for) here as in Revelation 19:8. The possession of the prophetic spirit shows itself in witness to Jesus. In illustration see Mark 1:10; Matthew 3:16; Luke 3:21; John 1:51; Revelation 4:1; Revelation 10:1; Revelation 11:19; Revelation 14:17; Revelation 15:5; Revelation 18:1; Revelation 19:1, Revelation 19:7-9. [source]
Revelation 19:10 The spirit of prophecy [το πνευμα της προπητειας]
Explanatory use of γαρ — gar (for) here as in Revelation 19:8. The possession of the prophetic spirit shows itself in witness to Jesus. In illustration see Mark 1:10; Matthew 3:16; Luke 3:21; John 1:51; Revelation 4:1; Revelation 10:1; Revelation 11:19; Revelation 14:17; Revelation 15:5; Revelation 18:1; Revelation 19:1, Revelation 19:7-9. [source]
Revelation 19:11 The heaven opened [τον ουρανον ηνεωιγμενον]
Perfect passive participle (triple reduplication) of ανοιγω — anoigō Accusative case after ειδον — eidon So Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:1) begins his prophecy. See also the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:16; Luke 3:21, but σχιζομενους — schizomenous in Mark 1:10). Jesus predicted the opened heavens to Nathanael (John 1:51). In Revelation 4:1 a door is opened in heaven, the sanctuary is opened (Revelation 11:19; Revelation 15:5), angels come out of heaven (Revelation 10:1; Revelation 14:17; Revelation 18:1), and sounds come from heaven (Revelation 19:1). [source]
Revelation 21:3 And he shall dwell with them [και σκηνωσει μετ αυτων]
Future active of σκηνοω — skēnoō already in Revelation 7:15 from Ezekiel 37:27; Zechariah 2:10; Zechariah 8:8 and used of the Incarnate Christ on earth by John (John 1:14), now a blessed reality of the Father. The metaphor stands for the Shekinah Glory of God in the old tabernacle (Revelation 7:15; Revelation 13:6; Revelation 15:5), the true tabernacle of which it was a picture (Hebrews 8:2; Hebrews 9:11). God is now Immanuel in fact, as was true of Christ (Matthew 1:23). [source]
Revelation 4:1 After these things [μετα ταυτα]
Change in the panorama, not chronology (Revelation 7:1, Revelation 7:9; Revelation 15:5; Revelation 18:1; Revelation 19:1). This vision is of heaven, not of earth as was true of chapters Rev 1; 2. The first vision of Christ and the messages to the seven churches began in Revelation 1:12. This new vision of the throne in heaven (Revelation 4:1-11) succeeds that to which it here alludes. [source]

What do the individual words in Revelation 15:5 mean?

And after these things I looked was opened the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in - heaven
Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα εἶδον ἠνοίγη ναὸς τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ

μετὰ  after 
Parse: Preposition
Root: μετά  
Sense: with, after, behind.
ταῦτα  these  things 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
εἶδον  I  looked 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: εἶδον 
Sense: to see with the eyes.
ἠνοίγη  was  opened 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀνοίγω 
Sense: to open.
ναὸς  temple 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ναός  
Sense: used of the temple at Jerusalem, but only of the sacred edifice (or sanctuary) itself, consisting of the Holy place and the Holy of Holies (in classical Greek it is used of the sanctuary or cell of the temple, where the image of gold was placed which is distinguished from the whole enclosure).
τῆς  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
σκηνῆς  tabernacle 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: σκηνή  
Sense: tent, tabernacle, (made of green boughs, or skins or other materials).
τοῦ  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Neuter Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
μαρτυρίου  testimony 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Singular
Root: μαρτύριον  
Sense: testimony.
τῷ  - 
Parse: Article, Dative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
οὐρανῷ  heaven 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: οὐρανός  
Sense: the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it.