Alfred, Lord Tennyson uses related symbols throughout his entire poem Crossing the Bar. He compares everything to aspects of the ocean or sailing, and exhibits a beautiful, poetic viewpoint of death. He compares going out to sea to dying. The speaker implores his loved ones not to grieve for him after his passing. The tone of the poem is very peaceful; insisting that the speaker would be merely going home at last.
I think the "bar" is just the division between either life and death, or death and entering heaven. Is the "bar" purgatory? Tennyson uses a pilot to symbolize God. "I hope to see my Pilot face to face..." (Tennyson, 886). The fact that he capitalized "Pilot" in that line is an indication that he is indeed speaking of a higher power. The speaker is hopeful that he will meet his maker after his inevitable death.
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