Revelation 7:4-9

4 And [then] I heard how many were sealed (marked) out of every tribe of the sons of Israel: there were 144,000. 

5 Twelve thousand were sealed (marked) out of the tribe of Judah, 12,000 of the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 of the tribe of Gad, 

6 Twelve thousand of the tribe of Asher, 12,000 of the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 of the tribe of Manasseh, 

7 Twelve thousand of the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 of the tribe of Levi, 12,000 of the tribe of Issachar, 

8 Twelve thousand of the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 of the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 of the tribe of Benjamin. 

When each one of these children of Israel, the twelve sons of Jacob, were born, their mothers, inspired by the Holy Spirit, spoke out a saying about them. It’s really powerful when we put together all of those sayings that were spoken for these twelve children, in the order in which they are listed here by Jesus. Here is what those sayings all put together proclaim:

Praise God, He has seen my affliction, and His good fortune has come. I am happy blessed and to be envied, for God has seen my struggle and He has caused me to forget all of it. I was despised, but now the Lord (Jesus) is my husband and companion. God has given me my hire and my marriage gift, by taken away my reproach. And now I am seated as a son at His right hand!

How awesome is that? I don’t know if Jesus meant for that to be tied together here, but it sure is awesome stuff! These 144,000 anointed Jewish preachers bring these sayings to completion for Israel. 

9 After this I looked and a vast host appeared which no one could count, [gathered out] of every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. These stood before the throne and before the Lamb; they were attired in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. 

The Bible teaches us that right now the saved have been raised up together and made to sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:6. The Truth for us is that salvation is for everyone right now, all nations, all tribes, and all peoples, so all that are saved are raised up and sitting with Jesus in Heavenly places right now. What John sees here in verse 9 does not mean that our physical bodies have to be in Heaven during this event. And actually they can’t be, because Jesus told us that our bodies would not be raised up until the last day, and He has shown us that many of our brethren still have to be killed during the Great Tribulation. Remember also that John was shown that the souls of those who are killed for the testimony of Jesus are under the Throne of our Father, waiting for the redemption of their physical bodies. So this vision of John has to be symbolic, showing that even though we may be dead, or alive in the world, we who are chosen, are all kings and priests right now. And regardless of where our bodies are physically, we are all considered by our Father to now be raised up together and one with our Lord and Savior!   

There is a certain number of God’s elect that have to come into being before the Great Tribulation and the Wrath of our Father can begin. Also take notice here that John sees that these people are before the Throne, they are not seated in the Throne with Jesus. This ties in with the symbolism of the verse.