The reference is to Jesus’ ascension into heaven. In the earlier years of his life the Lord God had preserved him from Satan’s efforts to destroy him (Matthew 2:13). With his ascension, however, Jesus appeared before God’s throne and so could begin to rule over the nations (Revelation 5:1–14). In the sign John saw, the roughly thirty-three years between Christmas and Ascension are compressed into one event. In so doing, John highlights the two bookends of why Jesus came into the world to begin with: to crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15).
5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,