Seal

A personalised design used to produce an imprint in clay or wax which was then attached, usually to documents and letters as a mark of ownership, authenticity and authority. A seal might also refer to what is given as a pledge or guarantee or be used to keep something secure.

The nature and use of a seal

Seals engraved on precious stone

Exodus 28:11 parallel Exodus 39:6 See also Exodus 28:21 parallel Exodus 39:14; Exodus 28:36 parallel Exodus 39:30

Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings.

Seals used to imprint soft clay

Job 38:14

Ways of carrying a personal seal

Figuratively used

Song of Solomon 8:6

Worn round the neck

Genesis 38:18 The seal took the form of an engraved cylinder pierced from end to end and worn on a cord round the neck. See also Genesis 38:25

“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

Worn as a signet ring

Jeremiah 22:24 See also Numbers 31:50; Isaiah 3:21

“As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “evenif you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would pull you off.

A seal as a mark of authority

Now you may write in the king’s name as you please regarding the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring. For a decree that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.” At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush — writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed it with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers riding on swift horses bred from the royal mares.

A seal used to keep something secure

Daniel 6:17 See also Deuteronomy 32:34; Job 14:17; Psalm 40:9; Song of Solomon 4:12; Matthew 27:65–66; Revelation 20:3

A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that nothing concerning Daniel could be changed.

Documents sealed to prevent alteration

Binding agreements

Nehemiah 9:38–10:1 See also Jeremiah 32:10–11, Jeremiah 32:14, Jeremiah 32:44

The words of prophecy

Daniel 12:4 See also Isaiah 8:16–17, Isaiah 29:10–11; Daniel 8:26, Daniel 9:24, Daniel 12:9; Revelation 10:4, Revelation 22:10

But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase.”

The scroll and its seals

Revelation 5:1–4, Revelation 5:9 See also Revelation 5:5, Revelation 6:1–12, Revelation 8:1

Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One seated on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look inside it. And I began to weep bitterly, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look inside it.

And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

A seal as a pledge or guarantee

Deuteronomy 29:12; Haggai 2:23; Romans 4:11

A seal as a mark of belonging

The mark of the beast

Revelation 13:16–17, Revelation 14:9–11

God's seal of ownership

2 Timothy 2:19; Revelation 7:3–8 See also Ezekiel 9:4; Galatians 6:17; Revelation 9:4

Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”

“Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have placed a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel: From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

The Spirit as a pledge of final redemption

2 Corinthians 1:21–22 The Holy Spirit both seals believers as belonging to God and guarantees their future inheritance. See also Ephesians 1:13–14, Ephesians 4:30

Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us, placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.