It is often said that when a saved man dies, he goes into the presence of the LORD. But to correctly understand what constitutes the presence of the LORD, we must look at the heavenly sanctuary described by John in the Book of Revelation. The heavenly sanctuary consists of the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, and the Outer Court. It is for this reason that when Moses built the tabernacle in the wilderness, he fashioned it according to the pattern of the sanctuary in Heaven (Hebrews 8: 5).
The Throne room of God is the Holy of Holies which John saw in Revelation 4: 1 – 2. This great Throne room represents the seventh dimension where the corporal body of Jesus presently resides. But the glorious presence of Almighty God is not restricted to just this place, but instead emanates forth from the seventh dimension and fills the sixth dimension or Holy Place (the Region of the Blessed) in which the New Testament saints patiently wait for their resurrection (1 Corinthians 15: 51 – 52; 1 Thessalonians 4: 16; Revelation 20: 4 – 5) under the Golden Altar of Incense (Revelation 8: 3; Revelation 9: 13).
From there the presence of God permeates the Outer Court. The Outer Court does indeed represent the physical world in which we live, but it also represents another world or unseen dimension that is closely associated with the physical world. This is because the Outer Court is where the Brazen Altar and Sea of Glass are located, and are the pieces of furniture where John saw the fifth seal Jews (Revelation 6: 9 – 11), the 144,000 Jews, and the foolish virgins (Revelation 15: 2).
Included among those who are gathered in the Outer Court or unseen dimension that is located so closely to our very own world, is that of the many individuals who have given their hearts to the Lord Jesus shortly before they died. These people are not elect, and are not gathered under the Golden Altar of the Holy Place, but are also gathered in the unseen world of the Outer Court where they await the second resurrection to be judged at the Great White Throne and be ushered in to eternal life.
What we have come to learn is that the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, and the Outer Court are representative of dimensions that make up the heavenly sanctuary, and which are enveloped by God’s presence, so that all those people who are located in the worlds represented by the three courts are actually still situated in God’s presence. This subject is a vast one and will be explored in more detail when we examine how that worlds can exist inside of other worlds.