“Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or the sea, or even on any tree. And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And He shouted to those four angels, who had been given power to harm the land and sea. ‘Wait! Don’t harm the land or sea or the trees until We have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of His servants.’
And I heard how any were marked with the seal of God – 144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel:” (Revelation 7: vv. 1-4, NLT)