Their immediate context requires us to understand that in the first instance the reference is to the four portraits of the New Jerusalem with its introductory vision, given in Revelation 21:1–22:5. However, the verse ends with a reference to what must soon take place,
a phrase that echoes Revelation 1:1. That throwback pleads in favour of broadening the content of these words
to include the entirety of the revelation the Lord Jesus Christ showed the apostle. That understanding gains credence when we consider the closing words of Revelation 21:7 with its reference to this book
(see also Revelation 21:9). That phrase clearly refers to more than the four portraits of the New Jerusalem.
6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”