1. Revelation 12:1 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is the significance of the woman being clothed with the sun?

Revelation 12:1 (ESV)

1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

The sun is the source of light on earth; without light there is no life. God has covered himself with light (Psalm 104:2) so that his brightness is too much for the human eye to take in (Exodus 33:20). In this world the sun is the closest representation of the brightness and glory of God, to the point that no one can stare at the sun with his naked eye. This woman is wrapped in the sun and so shows that she belongs to God. Jesus had said that when the Son of Man returns, “the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43). This woman is the beginning of that promise.