What was the setting for Leo Tolstoy's story "The Penitent Sinner"?

The setting of this powerful short piece of fiction mostly
occurs at the gates of heaven, as the story focuses on the attempts of the repentant
sinner of the title to gain admission through the pearly gates into heaven itself. Thus,
for most of the story, the action occurs in a spiritual realm. The only reference to the
earthly realm that is given comes at the beginning, when the sinner, on his deathbed,
repents, and then dies, going up into the spiritual
realm:

And as
he said these words, his soul left his body. And the soul of the sinner, feeling love
towards God and faith in His mercy, went to the gates of heaven and knocked, praying to
be let into the heavenly
kingdom.

The vast majority of
this short piece of fiction occurs outside heaven, in front of the heavenly gates, and
only at the very end does the setting shift as the gates open and the sinner is embraced
by the Apostle John and allowed to enter heaven.