Revelation is a book full of secrets and symbols, dreams and visions, strange creatures, scary predictions, and sealed scrolls. The mysterious nature of all the details John records in his final book have challenged each new generation of believers to come to grips with this unique message.

The first few chapters in Revelation, with its letters to the churches and the sequential unsealing of the seven scrolls, is an unveiling of sacred information. This vision is filled with both words of praise and decrees of judgment. But in the portion of Revelation read in this week’s text, the focus shifts from upcoming earthly events to the heavenly reality that awaits God’s children after the tribulations of this world have passed.

While Revelation 7:1-8 is heavy with numerological details, the messag…