then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.
Clouds -- His coming is pictured with the "clouds" of heaven, cf. Acts 1:9-11, a picture often used by Jesus himself, with the metaphor being changed to a "flaming fire" in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8, another picture that is often associated with the Lord’s coming in judgment.