Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel - He heard their number, 144,000 which is clearly a symbolic number, later he sees them as a great multitude which no one could count. In the NT the church is described as the Israel of God, Gal 6:16, and as Abraham's seed in Gal 3:29, in Rom 4:16 Abraham is the father of those who believe. The number 144 also appears in Rev 21:17 which is the thickness of the walls of the New Jerusalem, which is a clear reference to the complete OT and NT church. 12,000 is found inRev 21:16 as the length of the New Jerusalem, again this is a vision of the new Jerusalem whose gates had the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on them and whose twelve foundations had the names of the twelve apostles on them because the city is composed of both old and new testament saints. A number of dispensationalist commentators particularly from America hold that there is a separate place for Israel and the church in their theology, but this does not accord with NT theology about the church, the 144,000 are not Jewish converts in the last days but are the church. The church is the true Israel of God, God works in the world through his church, in the OT it was through the twelve tribes and in the NT through the twelve apostles. The place for Israel or rather the Jewish people in the last days is as part of the church. The number thousand means complete so the 144,000 represent all God's people from the old and new testament. The 144,000 is not a literal number, it is the complete church not part of it. 144=12 * 12, i.e. OT * NT church, 1000=10*10*10 which means completeness. The symbolism ought to be evident from the breakdown of the number 144,000 into twelve tribes of exactly 12,000 for each tribe. Israel was the name given to Jacob after he struggled with God and with men and overcame (Gen 32:28), once again a reference to God's people as overcomers.
144,000 from all the tribes of Israel - What follows is clearly a census of all the tribes of Israel, however when we examine the census it has some significant differences from actual censuses taken in the OT. Each tribe has exactly 12,000 counted so the census should be regarded as symbolic. When the first census was taken of the tribes they had to pay a ransom,Exo 30:12, so those in the census were ransomed people. The 144,000 are found again in 14:1 where they have the name of the Lamb and the Father written on their foreheads. In the description of the new Jerusalem, 22:3-4, we also find God's servants with his name on their foreheads.
From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed - The 144,000 sealed, the first born of the twelve tribes of OT Israel is Reuben who is normally mentioned first, he is listed second to Judah, but here the first tribe in the list and therefore the first born is from the tribe of Judah, Jesus is the first born of the dead (Rev 1:5, Col 1:15) and is from the tribe of Judah (Heb 7:14, Rev 5:5). He is the firstborn of many brothers, Rom 8:29. The number of people in each tribe is 12,000 which is symbolic, this number also occurs when the New Jerusalem is measured, its length, width and height is 12,000 stadia. It had twelve gates and on each gate was written the name of one of the tribes of Israel, the city had twelve foundations on which were written the names of the twelve apostles.
from the tribe of Levi 12,000 - Levi is the tribe of priests, it is now include in the census, whereas they are not normally counted (Num 1:4749) 'You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites'. The NT saints are a royal priesthood, 1 Pet 2:9, there is no need now for a separate tribe of priests.
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000 - Joseph is not normally mentioned as a tribe, his sons Manasseh and Ephraim are normally mentioned as two tribes (Gen 48:5), however Ephraim went into idolatry and is not mentioned here as did Dan who is not mentioned, idolaters are excluded from the New Jerusalem (Rev 22:15). Joseph is a type of Christ, there is nothing bad mentioned about him in scripture. Both Joseph and Christ were unjustly tried, Joseph was unjustly charged with trying to rape Potiphar's wife (Gen 39:1-20). Both suffered, Joseph in prison and Jesus on the cross. Both were later crowned with glory and honour (Gen 41:39-45, Heb 2:9).
The census thus reveals Christ as the firstborn, it includes the priests together with Joseph as a type of Christ, all have been ransomed, but there are no idolaters in it; it is the church of the redeemed.