Revelation 20:1: And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

Revelation 20:1-3 concludes John's account of the spiritual battle of Armageddon which is also described in Revelation 19:19-20.¹ In the first part of Spiritual Armageddon, the Beast (Cain) and the False Prophet (Judas Iscariot)² were permanently³ cast alive into the lake of fire with all disembodied sons of perdition.⁴ Here, in the Second part of Spiritual Babylon, the Dragon (Satan)⁵ is temporarily⁶ bound in the bottomless pit⁷ (abyss)⁸ for a thousand years with all unembodied spirit sons of perdition.⁹ The lake of fire and the bottomless pit are two different places.¹⁰

The Dragon (Satan) and the unembodied spirits that follow him have been on earth tormenting mankind since the physical creation of this earth.¹¹ In a future day, during the First Woe,¹² these same unembodied spirits will be loosed from the bottomless pit¹³ with more power on earth than ever before.¹⁴ Their immense power will continue until they are bound in the same bottomless pit¹⁵ during the seventh and final Vial Plague of the Third Woe, as recorded in Revelation 20:1-3.¹⁶ To this end, John saw an angel come down from heaven in Revelation 20:1 to bind Satan and his unembodied host of evil spirits.¹⁷

The angel from heaven is Michael,¹⁸ the archangel,¹⁹ although many scholars persuasively posit that Jesus Christ is the angel.²⁰ Christ holds the ultimate authority to bind Satan, of course, but Michael is his captain who contends against Satan at the Second Coming as in all times past.²¹ Michael first defeated Lucifer (Satan) during the premortal war in heaven,²² and caused Satan and his unembodied host to be cast down to the bottomless pit on this physical earth.²³ Michael, who was known in mortality as Adam,²⁴ yielded to Satan's temptation in the Garden of Eden,²⁵ which brought about the necessary fall of mankind²⁶ and the entire earth.²⁷ After Adam died, he (Michael) again became a protector of righteous people on earth against Satan in all ages.²⁸

In Revelation 9:1-5, Michael used a key to loose Satan and his unembodied angels from the bottomless pit during the future First Woe.²⁹ In that future day, Satan and his followers will have increased power on earth until they lose their power entirely Revelation 20:1. In this verse, Michael uses the same key of the bottomless pit³⁰ to literally bind Satan and his followers in the bottomless pit.³¹ This will occur as part of the earth's pre-millennial cleansing process during the seventh Vial Plague of the Third Woe.³² Michael also has a great chain in his hand.³³ The chain hangs down from Michael's hand to secure Satan in the bottomless pit.³⁴ The great size of the chain symbolizes the great power and authority Michael will use to bind Satan and his evil host of unembodied spirits³⁵ in a very literal way.³⁶

Revelation 20:2: And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

Michael will use the great chain of his priesthood power to lay hold on the dragon,³⁷ and forcibly bind³⁸ him in the bottomless pit.³⁹ Since Michael holds a preeminent position⁴⁰ among all God's spirit children,⁴¹ Michael holds the priesthood power and keys to bind the Dragon.⁴² After Michael secures the Dragon in the bottomless pit by the power of his priesthood,⁴³ people on earth will keep Satan bound throughout the millennium by their righteousness.⁴⁴

In Revelation 20:2, John identifies Michael's adversary by four names‒the world number.⁴⁵ The four names include the dragon,⁴⁶ that old (ancient)⁴⁷ serpent,⁴⁸ the Devil,⁴⁹ and Satan.⁵⁰ The four names express Satan's worldwide dominion and the universal nature of his person.⁵¹ The four names at the Second Coming match exactly those names given him in Revelation 12:9 when Satan and his angels were cast down from heaven on Kolob at the end of the war in heaven and at the time of this earth's physical creation.⁵²

Satan and his unembodied spirit sons of perdition will be literally bound ... a thousand years for the duration of the millennium.⁵³ Once they are bound, Satan and his host will have no power to tempt mortal people on the earth.⁵⁴ When this occurs, the transition or restitution of the earth into its paradisiacal condition will take months or perhaps even years.⁵⁵ After this transition period, the earth shall again be like the Garden of Eden before the fall of Adam.⁵⁶

Revelation 20:3: And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

The Dragon and all unembodied⁵⁷ spirit sons of perdition that follow him⁵⁸ will be bound in the same bottomless pit from which they were loosed in Revelation 9:1-2 during the First Woe.⁵⁹ Michael will bind them in four ways.⁶⁰ John uses the world number again to symbolize Satan's complete and universal restraint for 1000 years.⁶¹ First, Michael will lay hold on Satan with a great chain in Revelation 20:2. Second, Michael will cast him into the bottomless pit,⁶² where Satan and his evil host will be segregated into their own place in the lowest depths of hell.⁶³ Third, Michael will shut him up⁶⁴ in darkness where the outside influence of spiritual light is absent.⁶⁵ Fourth, Michael will set a seal upon him. This means the bottomless pit⁶⁶ will be completely secure until the Lord allows the seal to be broken at the end of the millennium.⁶⁷

When Satan and his evil host are bound in the bottomless pit they will deceive the nations no more⁶⁸ until the millennial period of one thousand years should be fulfilled.⁶⁹ There will be no nations left for Satan to deceive because Christ will make a full end of all nations at his Second Coming as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants Section 87:6.⁷⁰ All wickedness and corruption will be swept from the earth⁷¹ as part of the earth's spiritual cleansing.⁷² Once the earth is cleansed at the Second Coming, the paradisaical conditions of the millennium will eventually exist on the earth again⁷³ till the thousand years should be fulfilled.⁷⁴ The scriptures are silent as to the amount of time it will take for this renewal process, but it will not happen instantly when the Third Woe ends and Christ's millennial reign on earth begins.⁷⁵

As the earth heals and regenerates over months and years, righteousness shall spread over the face of the earth and the righteousness of God's millennial people will then keep Satan bound for a thousand years.⁷⁶ Ultimately, however, people will again apostatize and rebel at the end of the millennium and the nations will be reestablished.⁷⁷ Their wickedness will make it possible for Satan to be loosed again from the bottomless pit⁷⁸ and he will then establish an eighth world kingdom for a little season after the millennium.⁷⁹

Satan and his evil host of unembodied spirits must be loosed a little season⁸⁰ to fulfill God's purposes.⁸¹ The little season identifies an indefinite time⁸² that is relatively short in comparison to the thousand-year millennium.⁸³ Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce R. McConkie have both said, however, that the little season could last another period of 1000 years after the millennium.⁸⁴ This seems highly unlikely, however, and logically unnecessary. It appears much more certain that the little season will last no more than 100 years for reasons discussed in Section 338 in this text.⁸⁵