“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.”
King James Version (KJV)
14:1 And I saw on mount Sion - The heavenly Sion. An hundred forty - four thousand - Either those out of all mankind who had been the most eminently holy, or the most holy out of the twelve tribes of Israel the same that were mentioned, #Rev 7:4|, and perhaps also, #Rev 16:2|. But they were then in the world, and were sealed in their foreheads, to preserve them from the plagues that were to follow. They are now in safety, and have the name of the Lamb and of his Father written on their foreheads, as being the redeemed of God and of the Lamb, his now unalienable property. This prophecy often introduces the inhabitants of heaven as a kind of chorus with great propriety and elegance. The church above, making suitable reflections on the grand events which are foretold in this book, greatly serves to raise the attention of real Christians, and to teach the high concern they have in them. Thus is the church on earth instructed, animated, and encouraged, by the sentiments temper, and devotion of the church in heaven.
Re 14:1 The Triumph of Christ SUMMARY OF REVELATION 14: The Lamb and His Saints on Mt. Zion. The New Song. The Angel of the Everlasting Gospel. Blessed Are Those That Die in the Lord. The Son of Man in the Clouds. The Harvest of the Earth. The Elect Gathered. The Clusters of the Vine of the Earth Cut Off. Trodden Down in the Wine-Press. And I looked, and, lo. This is the usual formula in Revelation which introduces a new vision. The Lamb stood. In Re 13:11, a false lamb has been seen, one that had a voice like a dragon. Here, in contrast, is seen the Lamb of God, the same as in Re 5:6,7, taking the book with seven seals. On the Mount Sion. Here and in Heb 12:22 are the only places in the New Testament where this expression occurs. It is equivalent to the "Jerusalem above" of Ga 4:26 Heb 12:22. Mount Zion, the city of the great King, the seat of the worship of God in Jerusalem, was a type, and is used as a symbol of the true Church. In Heb 12:22, the saints who have entered into the covenant of Christ are said to have come, not to the mount that could not be touched, but to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. It is there used for the church of the saints, and such is its meaning in the passage. With him an hundred [and] forty four thousand, etc. In Re 7:4 the same number are spoken of as sealed from the twelve tribes of Israel. It means there, a great, indefinite number. Here, I take that the meaning is the same. It is a great multitude, a round number, who are associated with the Lamb.