The following list of those who are sealed from the 12 tribes of Israel alludes to the census that God commanded Moses to perform in the desert of Sinai (Nm 1), of all the fighting men in each tribe except Levi, as a preparation for the military organization of their camp (Nm 2). However, there is a much closer correspondence between this passage in Revelation (Rev 7,4-8) and the law for the king in Qumran’s ‘Temple Scroll’ (11QT; col. LVII; 2nd cent. BC): “This is the law [that they shall write for him]… [They shall count,] on the day they appoint hi[m] king, the sons of Israel from the age of twenty to sixty years according to their standard (units). He shall install at their head captains of thousands, captains of fifties and captains of tens in all their cities. He shall select from among them one thousand by tribe to be with him: twelve thousand warriors who shall not leave him alone to be captured by the nations. All the selected men whom he has selected shall be men of truth, God-fearers, haters of unjust gain and mighty warriors. They shall guard him always day and night. They shall guard him from anything sinful, and from any foreign nation in order not to be captured by them” (The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, G. Vermes, 3rd Ed., London: Penguin, 1987, 151). The parallels between the 144,000 (12 x 12,000) and the 12,000 strong army of the King of Israel will become even more striking when considering subsequent visions of this group in Revelation (i.e., Rev 14,1-5; 17,14; 20,7-10). In brief, the sealing of the 144,000 appears to signify their selection as members of a messianic army that accompanies the King Messiah (cf. 14,1-5).