This article engages with contemporary research by drawing out evocative lines of continuity between the description of angelic praise in the heavenly realm in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, and scenes of worship in the celestial temple in the Apocalypse (especially Rev 4-5). Three aspects will be picked-out for detailed scrutiny in this comparative analysis:
● The architecture and plan of the celestial temple
● The animate praise of the celestial architecture and furnishings
● The prominence of 'seven' as a structural principle
The article concludes that the celestial temple liturgy of the Apocalypse shares a wealth of conceptual parallels with the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice as both texts visualise the heavenly realm as the interior of a celestial temple re-imagined as a living, animate structure of praise. The 'rhapsodic' meditation on the number seven in both texts suggests that the potential liturgical context of the Apocalypse's reception (Rev 1:10, Lord's Day), analogous to the Sabbath setting of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, may merit renewed investigation
