In most cases, the meaning of "before" is pretty straightforward, both as a way of assessing relative time, and in its use meaning "in someone's presence." It takes on a deeper significance, though, when used in connection with the Lord. To be "before" the Lord means not just in His presence, but also receiving the desire for good and the understanding of truth from Him, and living according to them. And when used as an assessment of time in connection with the Lord, "before" means "from eternity," and refers to a spiritual state rather than time as we experience it.

(Референце: Apocalypse Revealed 366, 617; Arcana Coelestia 6983, 8439, 9888)

366. Standing before the throne and before the Lamb. This symbolically means, listening to the Lord and doing what He commands.

To stand before the Lord means, symbolically, to hear and do what He commands, like one who stands before a king.

This is also the symbolic meaning of standing before God, or in the presence of God, elsewhere in the Word, as when the angel said to Zacharias,

I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God... (Luke 1:19)

A man who stands before Me shall not be cut off forever. (Jeremiah 35:19)

These are the two offspring of the olive tree, who stand before the Lord of the whole earth. (Zechariah 4:14)

(He) separated the tribe of Levi... to stand before Jehovah... (Deuteronomy 10:8)

And so on elsewhere.