What is the context?
John hears about the victorious Lion and then sees a Lamb standing, bearing the appearance of having been slain. The two pictures refer to the same Christ. His death has not ended His life or His victory.
The seven horns and seven eyes belong to this powerful, seeing Lamb. The eyes are identified with the seven spirits of God sent throughout the earth, recalling the eyes of the LORD surveying the earth in Zechariah 4:10. The Lamb approaches and takes the scroll from the One seated on the throne.
The creatures and elders fall before Him. The harps accompany a scene of worship, while the bowls of incense are expressly identified as the prayers of the saints. Psalm 141:1–2 already compares prayer offered to God with incense.
The new song gives the reason for His worthiness: He was slain and purchased people for God with His blood. Those people come from every tribe, language, people and nation. He makes them a kingdom and priests, with a future of reigning on the earth. Their identity and calling begin with what He has done for them.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Wesley and Gill understand the slain yet standing Lamb as the crucified and risen Christ. Both see His death as the basis for the praise and the redeemed people’s place with God. Their readings differ over the setting and some of the people represented in the vision, but both keep Christ’s saving work central.
The bowls of prayers touch a real difference over who prays for the church. The Catholic Church teaches that saints in heaven pray to the Father for those on earth through Christ, the one mediator; see Catechism 956. Gill does not read this scene as support for addressing prayers to departed saints: in his reading, the figures represent earthly believers and their own prayers. Wesley understands the bowls as representing the prayers of other saints still on earth. These explanations should be distinguished from the passage’s explicit identification of the incense as prayer.
The BSB song speaks of the redeemed as those Christ purchased and made a kingdom, using them and they in verse 10. Older commentaries sometimes reason from wording with us and we. That difference matters when assessing a claim that the song proves exactly who the singers must be. The page retains the BSB wording throughout.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The Lamb connects with John 1:29, where Jesus is identified as the Lamb of God who takes away sin, and 1 Peter 1:18–21, where redemption is tied to His precious blood and resurrection. Revelation shows the crucified and risen Christ receiving worship and authority in heaven.
The kingdom of priests also recalls Exodus 19:3–6, where God brings Israel to Himself and gives it a priestly calling. Here the Lamb gathers people from every nation for service to God. Their worship and future rule are grounded in redemption, bringing Christ’s sacrifice and God’s purpose for a people who serve Him into the same picture.
What is our position?
Our studies Returning to the Word and The True Church According to Jesus describe priesthood as a calling shared by the whole community of believers, with access to God through Christ. That is the principle we draw on here: the Lamb makes His redeemed people a kingdom and priests to serve God.