Revelation 8:3: 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 saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

After John saw the seven trumpet angels in Revelation 8:2, he then saw another angel that was not one of the seven.¹ This other angel was Jesus Christ,² although some believe it could be an angel who symbolizes Jesus Christ.³ When the seventh seal opens with a half an hour of silence in heaven,⁴ this other angel (i.e., Christ) will perform the high priestly functions⁵ of intercession⁶ in the heavenly temple.⁷ The celestial paradise is a temple,⁸ and in this sacred setting Christ will make intercession during the half an hour of silence as the antitype for all intercessions made by the high priests in Israel during the yearly Day of Atonement.⁹ The Day of Atonement was the most sacred day of the year in ancient Israel.¹⁰ On that day the high priest representing Jesus Christ made intercession for all Israel.¹¹

In John's vision, the other angel who is Christ came and stood at the altar, which is the heavenly counterpart for the brazen altar located in the courtyard of the earthly temple in Jerusalem.¹² While making intercession in heaven, Christ has in his hand a golden censer¹³ filled with hot coals from the brazen altar.¹⁴ The coals were given unto him to burn much incense,¹⁵ which means that Christ used the hot coals from the brazen altar in heaven to burn incense on the golden altar.¹⁶ In the earthly temple, this golden altar was located in the Holy Place¹⁷ in front of the temple veil and throne of God located in the Holy of Holies.¹⁸

Anciently, the rising smoke from the altar of incense represented prayers ascending to God.¹⁹ Likewise, in John's vision the prayers of all saints²⁰ mix with the smoke from Christ's incense²¹ to give the prayers an acceptable fragrance to God²² in an intercessory manner.²³ Christ's role as the great intercessor is fully represented.²⁴ In John 17, Jesus Christ offered his high priestly prayer just before his blood offering in Gethsemane and on Calvary.²⁵ This intercessory prayer was an earthly type²⁶ for Christ's intercessory prayer that he will make during the heavenly Day of Atonement when the seventh seal opens.²⁷ This time of purification²⁸ and cleansing²⁹ is a necessary precursor to the Feast of Tabernacles or ingathering that will follow at the time of Christ's Second Coming.³⁰ Anciently, the Day of Atonement occurred five days before the Feast of Tabernacles.³¹

Under the law of Moses, the Day of Atonement was a Sabbath, and day of rest.³² This one day every year was set aside for national humiliation and contrition.³³ This 24-hour period of intense worship³⁴ foreshadows the half an hour of reverent and prayerful silence in heaven in Revelation 8:1 as Christ makes intercession as symbolically depicted in Revelation 8:3.³⁵ The half an hour will be filled with the silent prayers of saints in heaven (celestial paradise)³⁶ and the prayers of righteous people on earth after the calamities of the sixth seal.³⁷

Revelation 8:4: And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

This verse describes how the prayers of the saints from all ages ascend up to God³⁸ by the intercessory power of Christ's atonement.³⁹ God receives the prayers of the saints out of the angel's hand⁴⁰ because he (Christ) is their advocate.⁴¹ God only accepts the prayers of saints offered through, and in the name of, Jesus Christ.⁴² God's answer to the prayers of many saints⁴³ will come in the form of the Second Coming⁴⁴ and judgments on the wicked that precede it.⁴⁵