What are the keys of death (Revelation 1:18)?

— Then follows the fitting conclusion to this grand declaration of combined divine and human glory: “And have the keys of death and of hades.” In our English Bibles the order is reversed, hades preceding death. But clearly this is a mistake, and contrary to the general order in which the words are found in other parts of the book (Rev. 6:8; Rev. 20:13-14). Death demands the body; hades claims the soul. The Lord became subject to the one, and entered the other. Our English word “hell” should be discarded, and “hades,” signifying the unseen, substituted. Efforts have been made to fix the locality of hades. It is impossible to do so. It is rather a state than a place, and refers to that condition in which all, good and bad, are found after death and previous to the resurrection. For believers, hades is to be with Christ; for unbelievers, hades is to be in torment. Thus both the Lord and the rich man went to hades (Acts 2:27; Luke 16:23). Christ has come out of it; the rich man will do so when raised for eternal judgment. Hades as a state exists between death and resurrection. The word does not in itself signify either blessing or misery. The state is one of conscious blessedness for believers, and one of conscious misery for unbelievers.

The “keys” denote Christ’s complete mastery over the bodies and souls of all. The right to “open” and “shut” intimates His absolute authority over death and hades, the respective jailers of the dead, and is exercised at His sovereign pleasure. Satan has not now the power of death (Heb. 2:14). For the force of “key” as a symbol of undisputed authority, see Isaiah 22:22; Matthew 16:19.

"Behold, I am alive unto the ages of ages, and have the keys of death and of hades." The succession of these words in the common text is a mistake. Hades follows death, and does not go before it. (Rev. 6) See also Rev. 20 where we have "death and hades" mentioned several times in their regular order. And so in the best authorities it is here. When the Lord says that He has the keys of death and of hades, He intimates that He is the absolute master of all that might threaten man whether for the body or the soul. Satan's power in this respect is annulled; Christ has it all.

Yet as He says, He became dead (v.18), for in manhood He assumed a body capable of dying, in which He bore our sins. None could take His life from Him: He laid it down of Himself (John 10:17-18). But He is alive forevermore. Of course as God He could never die: now also as glorified Man He can never again die. In fact He Himself has the keys of hades and of death. He has total authority in regard to hades, the “unseen” state of the spirit and soul when the death of the body has taken place, and the same authority over death, the condition or state of the body when the spirit and soul have departed. This is a divine prerogative: He is able to change these conditions according to His own will.

In what He said to John He not only proclaimed His Deity as the First and the Last, and as the Living One (in contrast with idols), but He spoke of the completeness of the victory which by His death He has gained. Death has no more dominion over Him; He has annulled him who had the power of death; and He has authority (symbolised by the keys — Isa. 22:22) over both Death and Hades, and will summon both at the appointed hour to deliver up their solemn charge.

Here again divine and human characters are mingled. The First is Cause of all; the Last, the end of all. "All things were created by Him and for Him:" no expression of divinity could be clearer or fuller than this. Then the Living One is necessarily also the Source of life, — living and life-giving. But this Living One has died, gone into death to become its Conqueror. Alive for evermore, He has the keys of death and of hades, — that is, of that which holds the body and that which holds the soul of the dead. Thus man's condition is plumbed to the bottom, for death is the seal of that condition. Only that which meets the condition can break the seal of it.

Keys of Death and of Hades. — Power over death and the departed state.

Then, thirdly, the glory of dominion. Death and hell (Hades) are the great foes of sinful mankind, the symbols of the curse under which sin has brought them. Holding the keys, He is the complete Master of both. Thus Jesus presented Himself in His Deity; in His risen estate, redemption having been accomplished; and as the complete Master of man's ancient foes.

Notice too the peculiar expression, "I became dead."* And now as living to the eternal ages the risen Jesus speaks of the keys of Hades and of death. They belong to Him. The whole invisible world is entirely in His power, in His keeping, and we have here a truth which reassures our souls.

For this reason it is of the utmost importance to notice that the verse from Hebrews 2, already referred to, is written in the past tense! The devil had the power of death, but he was dethroned by Christ. He overcame the devil and annulled death and brought life and incorruptibility to light (2 Tim. 1:10). On the island that is called Patmos, John saw Him as the risen Lord: the One who had the keys, i.e., the power of hades and of death (Rev. 1:18).

One simple fact will help us here. In Rev. 1:17-18, Christ introduces Himself as the One who has the Keys of death and Hades. Hades means the invisible world, the world of spirits. Of this, then, Christ holds the Keys.