Forehead

The forehead held special significance in both pagan and Israelite practice as a visible surface for marking identity, devotion, or status. Oriental custom included marking or coloring the forehead as a sign of dedication to a deity. In Israelite practice, the high priest wore a golden plate on his forehead inscribed "Holy to the LORD" (Exodus 28:36-38), and phylacteries (totaphoth) were to be worn "between your eyes" (Exodus 13:16; Deuteronomy 6:8) — a forehead marking of devotion to God's word.

Ezekiel 9:4-6 records a vision in which the righteous in Jerusalem received a mark (Hebrew tav, the last letter of the alphabet, shaped like a cross in ancient script) on their foreheads as a sign of preservation from divine judgment — an image that carries through into Revelation's sealing of the 144,000 (Revelation 7:3) and the mark of God's name on the foreheads of the redeemed (Revelation 22:4), set in sharp contrast to the mark of the beast received on forehead or hand by those who worship him (Revelation 13:16). The forehead thus becomes in the Apocalypse the ultimate site of identity and allegiance.