What is the throne room scene in Revelation 4?

Revelation 4 opens with a door opened in heaven, and John hears a voice like a trumpet inviting him to come up and see things which must be hereafter. Immediately he is in the spirit and beholds a throne set in heaven with one sitting on it. The One on the throne appears like a jasper and a sardine stone, jasper being clear like crystal and sardine red like ruby, and a rainbow like an emerald surrounds the throne. This is the form God chose to reveal himself to John, not necessarily his fixed or permanent appearance.

Around the throne are twenty four seats with twenty four elders sitting on them, clothed in white raiment and wearing crowns of gold. These elders are not angels, since Scripture calls them elders, indicating they are men. They are understood to be the spirits of just men made perfect, faithful people such as Abraham, Job, and the prophets who lived before Christ and were brought into perfection at Christ's resurrection. They serve as honored representatives from that company, seated in God's presence, though their individual names are not revealed.

Out of the throne proceed lightnings, thunderings, and voices, and seven lamps of fire burn before the throne, identified as the seven Spirits of God. Before the throne is a sea of glass like crystal, functioning like a mirror reflecting what is above it. In the midst of the throne and round about it are four living creatures full of eyes, in the form of a lion, a calf, a man, and a flying eagle, each having six wings and being full of eyes within. They never cease their worship, crying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

The chapter closes with a great scene of worship. The twenty four elders fall down before him that sits on the throne and worship him that lives for ever and ever, casting their crowns before the throne and declaring him worthy to receive glory, honour, and power because he created all things, and for his pleasure they are and were created. In the right hand of the One on the throne lies a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals, setting the stage for what follows in Revelation 5.