Just because the word church doesn’t occur again does not mean God’s people have flown off into the atmosphere.
And the promise to “keep thee from the hour of temptation” would definitely mean to be kept, preserved, protected during that time of trial.
As Jesus prayed in John 17, that the Father would keep His children....that they would NOT be taken out of the world, but that they would be kept from the evil one.
Jesus said His coming would be as the days of Noah and as the days of Lot. In both instances, Noah, Lot, and families were kept from the judgment and destruction that came upon the earth. But they were still on the earth...were not taken out of the earth or fly off into the atmosphere.
No need to jump to conclusions.
Caught up in the air? yes. Perhaps air, perhaps pneuma as in spirit.
John 17:15 also indicates that through faith in Christ, once the Church has been completely formed, He had faith his Church would not suffer PONEROS or evil that is good for nothingness or calamitous.
I understand how many people might be influenced by human good, mistaking a worldly system of human good for a heavenly kingdom on earth, especially when they happen to win in this world. One of the most powerful drugs to the human psyche is success at endeavors of the volition and is remarkably used by the Adversary to parlay human good works into his policy of evil. There are many in the Church who backslide into worldly systems of success, rightly thinking they are performing good works, but failing to discern between human good and Divine good.
Such lack of discernment of human good from Divine good points directly to why this present worldly system will fail.
I also can understand why some post or a millenialists might think Christ is heaven is sufficient with our continueing sanctification here to win over the whole world to Him, but I do not have such faith in the world as I have in Him as I find the world to not be as trustworthy (/gross understatement).
When the Restrainer is removed, there is nothing which the Church might perform here for Divine Good.
But where and how? - Surely you have a suggestion of the place and method? A scripture that gives such an inkling?