During one of His earthly days, Jesus gave some of His disciples a sampling of what His second coming would be like. He set it up this way, telling them…
“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Matthew 16: 28.
By this, He did not mean, as it seems to imply, that they would get to live from their time to the end of the age. He meant it in the light of a supernatural event that was about to happen—the transfiguration.
The transfiguration, described in the next three verses, happened six days after Jesus’ prophetic statement. At that time, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a mountain. There, He was transfigured in this way: His face was like the shining brightness of the sun and His clothing became white as light.
The scene also included the appearances of Elijah and Moses, both of whom conversed with Jesus.
I know that Jesus words in Matthew 16: 28 refers to this transfiguration event because of Peter’s statement in II Peter 1: 16-18.
“For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased’— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.” (Italics mine)
The transfiguration is a symbolic preview of the 2nd coming. To begin with, the experience is described as “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Then we have Moses. He represents resurrection. And we have Elijah. He represents translation without seeing death. The two of them, of course are representative of all who will be saved at the actual 2nd coming of Jesus.