Another
angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much
incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in
front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers
of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Revelation 8:3-4
He
is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar
before the Lord and
two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the
curtain. Leviticus 16:12
A
censer was used in the temple worship as a tool to burn incense in burning
coals to provide a fragrance to the surroundings. It was a very specific formula to be used and
no variations could be tested. God knew
how powerful our sense of smell was so we would react physically to the smells
and immediately shift into worship mode.
The
incense metaphorically represented the prayers of the people, something that
started on the earth then floated upwards.
It was to get the people into a mindset of prayer and worship.