Revelation 3:19: As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Christ loved the lukewarm Laodicean saints¹ with great affection.² He was to them like a father³ who verbally rebukes,⁴ reproves,⁵ and chastens his errant children.⁶ Chastisement, including tribulation,⁷ sometimes brings suffering or misfortune that both teaches⁸ and perfects the saints.⁹ To this end, the lukewarm Laodicean saints were told to be zealous¹⁰ in their return to Christ through good works.¹¹ Separately, but as part of their return to Christ, the Laodicean saints had to repent.¹² There had to be both a change in behavior¹³ and a change of heart.¹⁴ These are preconditions for church members to open the door of their hearts to receive Jesus Christ.¹⁵

Revelation 3:20: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Doors have many symbolic meanings in the gospel of Jesus Christ.¹⁶ For example, spiritual cleansing occurred at the door of the tabernacle anciently,¹⁷ and today the cleansing ordinance of baptism is the door that leads to membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.¹⁸ In addition, sacrifices were made anciently at the door of the tabernacle, where the Lord met and spoke to the congregation of Israel.¹⁹ Similar imagery exists in the temple today where the veil of the temple represents Christ, who is the door to exaltation in the celestial kingdom.²⁰ Furthermore, during the first Passover meal, the destroying angel passed over the doors of Israelites that had sacrificial lamb's blood on the lintels.²¹ During the Passover meal, a door is also opened to welcome Elijah as a forerunner of Jesus Christ.²² Christ is also the door to salvation,²³ and he stands as a judge before the symbolic door of the judgment bar.²⁴ Five foolish virgins were shut out of heaven by a closed door.²⁵ Prayer,²⁶ coupled with obedience to gospel law,²⁷ can begin to open a heart that is like a closed door.

The door in Revelation 3:20 represents the heart²⁸ of lukewarm Laodicean saints²⁹ and all other church members similarly situated.³⁰ Their spiritual apathy had made their calloused hearts hard like wood.³¹ Christ had every reason to pass by their closed door,³² and yet he stood near them patiently³³ and earnestly.³⁴ He knocked at the door of their heart with great force,³⁵ but they could not feel the knock of his rebuke.³⁶ He spoke to them through John's letter,³⁷ but they could not hear nor would they hearken.³⁸ They were indifferent to the sound of Christ's rebuke and chastening.³⁹

Indifferent and inactive members of the church can open the door of their heart to Christ without insurmountable difficulty.⁴⁰ He is their loving friend.⁴¹ Nevertheless, they frequently fail to put forth the effort because of pride⁴² or the embarrassment of an unclean house.⁴³ Their lukewarm or apathetic souls will lose their eternal reward⁴⁴ because Christ will not forcibly enter a heart that remains closed to him.⁴⁵ In Luke 24, Christ demonstrated his power to enter a closed room after his resurrection where welcome hearts awaited him,⁴⁶ but he will not indefinitely knock at the door of a human heart that never opens to him from within.⁴⁷ Therefore, people must not procrastinate the day of their repentance.⁴⁸

Those that open the door of their heart to Christ⁴⁹ have been promised that I will come in unto him.⁵⁰ This occurs when Christ comes to faithful saints as the Second Comforter in this life⁵¹ and to those that make their calling and election sure at death.⁵² Those that open their hearts and receive the Savior share an intimate friendship with him.⁵³ This friendship⁵⁴ is symbolically portrayed as a shared meal⁵⁵ akin to the last supper when the apostle John laid his head tenderly in the bosom of the Savior.⁵⁶ This intimate meal also points to the marriage supper of the Lamb when exaltation-worthy saints become the bride of Christ and feast with him at the Second Coming.⁵⁷

Revelation 3:20 indicates that both the host and the guest provide something for the meal, saying: I will sup with him, and he with me.⁵⁸ Christ (the guest) provides the bread of life as the meal⁵⁹ and each member of the church (the host) provides the righteous setting.⁶⁰ Christ was likewise a guest at the marriage feast at Cana and yet he provided the wine.⁶¹ Similarly, Christ provided the bread when he ate with the two disciples that he met on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection.⁶²

The metaphor of the door and the intimate supper party in Revelation 3:20 comes from the Song of Solomon 5:2-6.⁶³ In those verses a bridegroom knocked at the door of his sleepy bride, but he left because she was too slow to open the door.⁶⁴ At the Second Coming, Christ will likewise knock at the door⁶⁵ of his bride (the church).⁶⁶ Exaltation-worthy saints⁶⁷ will quickly answer his call‒including the resurrected dead‒for their marriage to Christ on mount Zion in heaven as described in Revelation 14:1-2 and Revelation 19:7-8.⁶⁸ Immediately thereafter, all celestial-worthy saints⁶⁹ will join the bride and groom for the marriage supper of the Lamb in the earthly city of New Jerusalem.⁷⁰