The Lamb
Revelation 5:6Revelation 5:12
Christ, slain and standing — the paschal Lamb whose blood ransoms every tribe and tongue.
Symbols Glossary
The Imagery of Revelation
Symbols marked are identified by Scripture itself. Others are presented with the four major readings when readers differ.
Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Revelation 5:5Genesis 49:9
Christ, the promised sovereign of Judah, alone worthy to open the sealed scroll.
Seven Lampstands
Revelation 1:12Revelation 1:20
"The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches" (Rev 1:20).
Seven Stars
Revelation 1:16Revelation 1:20
"The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches" (Rev 1:20).
The Dragon
Revelation 12:9Revelation 20:2
"That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (Rev 12:9).
Beast from the Sea
Revelation 13:1–10Daniel 7
A composite kingdom, blaspheming, warring against the saints, receiving authority for a set time.
Interpretive Views
Futurist: A future world empire under a coming antichrist figure.
Historicist: A long-form succession of powers, often identified with the papal Rome of history.
Preterist: The Roman Empire of the first century, especially under Nero.
Idealist: Every persecuting political order that arises against the church throughout the age.
Beast from the Earth
Revelation 13:11–18
The false prophet — a religious counterfeit that compels worship of the first beast.
Interpretive Views
Futurist: A future religious figure supporting the antichrist.
Historicist: Ecclesiastical apostasy paralleled with imperial power.
Preterist: The imperial cult and its priesthood.
Idealist: False religious systems in every age.
Woman Clothed with the Sun
Revelation 12:1–6
A picture of covenant Israel, out of whom the man-child is born.
Babylon the Great
Revelation 17–18
A city and system of harlotry and commerce, drunk with the blood of saints.
Interpretive Views
Futurist: A yet-future religious-commercial world center.
Historicist: Papal Rome across the centuries.
Preterist: First-century Rome or apostate Jerusalem.
Idealist: Every seductive worldly system opposed to God.
The 144,000
Revelation 7:4–8Revelation 14:1–5
Sealed servants of God, twelve thousand from each of twelve tribes.
Interpretive Views
Futurist: A literal number of Jewish witnesses in a future tribulation.
Historicist: The elect of God through the age.
Preterist: Jewish believers preserved through AD 66–70.
Idealist: The whole redeemed people of God, symbolically numbered.
The Two Witnesses
Revelation 11:3–12
Two prophetic witnesses in sackcloth, killed and raised, ascending in the sight of their enemies.
Four Horsemen
Revelation 6:1–8
Conquest, war, famine, and death — the first four seals of the scroll.
The Number 666
Revelation 13:18
The number of the beast, of a man, called for wisdom to reckon.
Interpretive Views
Futurist: A future economic mark tied to a coming antichrist.
Historicist: A gematria of successive papal titles.
Preterist: Nero Caesar in Hebrew gematria.
Idealist: The perpetual falling-short (six) of every idolatrous humanism.
Seven Heads & Ten Horns
Revelation 13:1Revelation 17:9–12
The seven heads are seven mountains and seven kings; the ten horns are ten kings who receive power one hour with the beast (Rev 17:9–12).
Alpha & Omega
Revelation 1:8Revelation 22:13
"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord" (Rev 1:8) — the LORD's name upon Christ.
The New Jerusalem
Revelation 21:2Revelation 21:16
The holy city, coming down from God, a perfect cube of twelve thousand furlongs. Its cubic form mirrors the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle and Solomon's oracle — the whole city has become the sanctuary.