James Sledd asks:

 1. What is the nature of eternal life?
 2. How can we as mortals locked into space-time conceive of it?
 2a. If the best we can do is metaphor/analogy, then what is the
 best metaphor?

C S Lewis's essay THE WEIGHT OF GLORY deals with this question. I
recommend it enthusiastically. You might also read the chapter on
"Heaven" in his book THE PROBLEM OF PAIN. He gives a fictional
treatment in his book THE GREAT DIVORCE. I have found all of these
very helpful.

You might also be helped by the treatment in Dante's DIVINE COMEDY.
Heaven occupies the last third of the poem, but I cannot imagine
reading it other than from the beginning. I urge you to use the
translation by Dorothy L Sayers, available from Penguin Paperbacks.