The Seals storyline in The Book of Revelation

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Rev. 5:8-9

Rev. 5:8
"And when he had taken the book, (When Jesus resurrected himself)
the four beasts (Technically however, only two of the four beasts fall down,)
and four and twenty elders (The twenty four elders is anther metaphorical name for the 144,000)
fell down before the Lamb, (fell down before the Savior, God Almighty, Rev. 1:8)
having every one of them harps, (Rev. 14:2, the harps are the saints of God)
and golden vials full of odours, (Rev. 15:7, the judgment upon the world)
which are the prayers of saints." (Rev. 6:10, the prayers of the saints to avenge their murders)

Rev. 5:9
"And they sung a new song, saying,
a) Thou art worthy to take the book, (To take authority of the resurrection of saints)
b) and to open the seals thereof: (To justify the saints of the seven millennia qualifying for salvation in Christ)
c) for thou wast slain, (Rev. 5:5)
b) and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood (Rev. 1:5)
a) out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;"
 
Rev. 5:10-12

Rev. 5:10
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Rev. 1:5-6)

Rev. 5:11
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

Keep in mind that the angel of Rev. 1:1 is showing John the revelation. And this part of the revelation in Chapter Five is showing the the before, during, and after the atonement / resurrection of Jesus Christ. In other words, the events of Chapter Five are two thousand years ago being used as a type for the shadow in the tribulation. But more interesting is that John would have participated in the type just as he participates in the shadow.

a) And I (John) beheld,
b) and I (John) heard the voice of many angels round about the throne (Remember that round about the throne are the 144,000, Rev. 4:4)
c) and the beasts CENTER (Rev. 4:7)
b) and the elders: (Rev. 5:6, Rev. 4:4)
a) and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; (The actual number is 144,000 as demonstrated in Rev. 14:1)

So while John is being shown a vision, he was also a participant in the actual events. Just exactly how that was done, I do not know.

Rev. 5:12
Saying with a loud voice, (Here we see the angel of Rev. 1:1 was there at the celebration. He is the one with the loud voice and one of the beasts noted in item "c" above. To the gathering of the saints he states:
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."

This was the Savior's victory celebration. And it is being used as a type for the Rev. 15 shadow.

1) The victory celebration took place after the atonement
2) The victory celebration is shown to John in the revelation as a type
3) The victory celebration will take place in the tribulation as the shadow of the type
 
Rev. 5:13-14

Rev. 5:13
a) And every creature
1) which is in heaven,
2) and on the earth,
3) and under the earth,
4) and such as are in the sea,
5) and all that are in them,
b) heard I saying,
1) Blessing,
2) and honour,
3) and glory,
4) and power,
5) be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

An interesting thing is the "sayings" in the antithesis of the chapter as follows:
set 8, 9, 10, saying (v. 9), and this is from the two beasts and the 144,000
set 11, 12, saying (v. 12), and this is from the angel of Rev. 1:1 supported by all the saints of God
set 13, 14, saying (v. 13), and this is from John and supported by the 144,000

The Chapter Five chiasmus

vv. 1-4, The Savior in mortality
v. 5, The atonement
v. 6, The Savior with his servants
v. 7, CENTER, The resurrection of the Savior
vv. 8-10, honor and glory to the Savior from the 144,000
vv. 11-12, honor and glory to the Savior from the angel and all saints
vv. 13-14, honor and glory to the Savior from John and all creatures

Rev. 5:14
"And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever."
 
Notably, the entire revelation hinges upon Chapter Five. For without the Savior living in mortality, and paying the atonement, and employing the resurrection, then what is the point.

Rev. 6:1-2
"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 2And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer."
John saw the Savior's atoning sacrifice. Not only in the vision being shown to him by the angel, but also as recorded in the gospels. And it was that atoning sacrifice that opened the saints of the seven millennia to salvation. And this opening of salvation to the saints of God is the opening of the seven seals. So technically all seven seals were opened when Jesus died upon the cross. And this is stated in Rev. 5:5, "behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
In other words, "to open the book" is to provide the resurrection for the saints of God, and "to loose the seven seals thereof" is to free the saints of God from the bondage of sin. Consequently, opening the seals came first as recorded in Rev. 5:5, and the resurrection came second as recorded in Rev. 5:7. And that is what is meant by "conquering and to conquer" (v. 6:2). That Jesus went forth conquering death via salvation from sin, and he did this on the cross. And he went forth to conquer death via the resurrection from the grave, and he did this when he came forth out of the tomb and after.

However, when we get to Chapter Six, the seven seals change from representing the combined saints of the seven millennia, to representing the seven millennia individually, for the purpose of:
1) Showing the delegation of power from the Father to the 144,000.
2) And to show a significant event from each of the seven millennia as types representing events in the tribulation as the shadows.

Rev. 6:1-2
a) "And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, (In Chapter Six John is showing the transfer of power as well as the types and shadows.)
b) and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder,
c) one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. (This is the angel of Rev. 1:1 who is assigned to signify the revelation to John.
d) 2And I saw, and behold a white horse:
c) and he that sat on him had a bow; (Whereas one of the four (Rev. 4:7) is given in Verse 6:1 above, the remining three are given in Verse 6:2. The Father is represented as the white horse, the Son is represented as the rider, and John is represented as the bow. Therefore, all four of Rev. 1:1 are represented in Rev. 6:1-2.)
b) and a crown was given unto him: (Who is given the crown? Wow! In the type it is Enoch, and in the shadow it is John. But with respect to the power transfer, it is Jesus.)
a) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer."
 
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