Revelation 7:8
Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
The verse belongs to the vision of the sealing of God's chosen people before harm comes upon the earth, in which four angels hold back the winds of hurt upon earth, sea, and trees until the sealing is finished. The sealing scene is given for comfort and encouragement, presenting God's people as sealed and preserved amid coming judgments and showing that mercy accompanies judgment. The angel ascending from the east who has the seal of the living God and commands the delay is Christ, the Angel of the covenant, the Dayspring from on high, the Light of the world, the Restorer and Redeemer, and in the sealing work the divine and the human are united under his call to seal God's servants in their foreheads with the cry not to hurt till the sealing is done.
The twelve thousand sealed from each listed tribe are the chosen few who keep all of God's commandments and have the faith of Jesus. The sealing is a work of protection and preparation carried out before judgment proceeds, associated with those who love God and keep His commandments. The tribal list has been taken by those who held it to mean that the 144,000 will be Jews who acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, whereas the weight of teaching identifies the sealed as commandment-keepers with the faith of Jesus. Holding that the 144,000 will be Jews who acknowledge Jesus as Messiah is out of harmony with the truth held as a people and must be changed or modified in order to properly present truth to others.
Exactly who compose the 144,000 will be learned in heaven, for their membership is a mystery not revealed to be settled by speculation, and the verse is not to be pressed with speculative questions about who the sealed are. The verse contains what God has chosen to give, which is sufficient to tax the mind to its utmost capacity, and those who study the Scriptures prayerfully will have the correct application made to their hearts by the Holy Spirit. The verse is part of a message to be given to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, calling all to prepare for Christ's coming by washing their robes and making them white in the blood of the Lamb. Being among the sealed number requires not burying talents in worldly business or commercialism and not becoming so engrossed in the things of this world as to have neither time nor thought for preparation.