Richly colored chords alternate with open fifths, on top of a throbbing bass which repeats a simple rhythmic pattern.
[1] Programmatically, the piece describes the appearance of the eternal church, which then fades away.
[2] Messiaen described the piece by quoting from the hymn Cœlestis urbs Jerusalem: "Scissors, hammer, suffering, and tests, tailoring and polishing the elected persons, living stones of the spiritual edifice", stating that the throbbing bass depicts the incessant work of construction.
Filmmaker and musician Paul Festa created the film Apparition of the Eternal Church which captures the responses of 31 artists and writers to the piece.
It is also featured during the elevator scene in Pedro Costa's 2014 film Horse Money.