838. To give them a mark on their right hand, or on their foreheads. That this signifies a testification of acknowledgment that they belong to the church, and are in the truths and goods, so called, of that faith, is evident from the signification of a mark, as denoting a sign or witness of acknowledgment, in this case that they belong to that church; and from the signification of the right hand, as denoting the truth of faith in its power (concerning which see above, n. 298); and from the signification of forehead, as denoting the good of love (concerning which see also above, n. 427). In this case, therefore, by the right hand and forehead are signified the truths and goods, so called, of that faith, which, nevertheless, are either not truths and goods, or falsities and evils. The acknowledgment of them, however, as being truths and goods, is signified by giving and receiving a mark upon their right hands and upon their foreheads.

A mark also signifies a sign of acknowledgment in the following passages in the Apocalypse (14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4); the meaning of mark is similar to that of

"The sign" set by Jehovah upon Cain (Genesis 4:15).

Also

"The sign" which the prophet was commanded to set upon the foreheads of the men in the city of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 9:4).

As also by "the sign" in Moses:

"Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might; thou shalt bind these words for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes" (Deuteronomy 6:5, 8; 11:18).

9946. 'And for Aaron's sons' means Divine Truths emanating in the heavens from the Lord's Divine Good. This is clear from the representation of 'Aaron's sons' as Divine Truths emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, dealt with in 9807, in the heavens being meant because that which is Divine and the Lord's in the heavens is what the priestly office of Aaron and his sons represents. Divine Good in the heavens is represented by Aaron's priestly office, and Divine Truth from Divine Good there by that of his sons. The words 'in the heavens' are used because the Lord Himself, being the Sun of heaven, is above the heavens, yet has a presence within the heavens, which is such that it seems as though He Himself were there. The Lord as He is in the heavens - that is, His Divine Good and Divine Truth there - is able to be represented, but not that which is Divine and His above the heavens, because this cannot fall within the range of what human minds or even angelic minds can grasp, since it is infinite. But what is Divine and emanates from it into the heavens is suited to reception there.