9:4 mark. The mark on the foreheads in this vision may have influenced John in Rev. 7:3; 14:9. The mark placed on the foreheads was the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, tau. At the time of Ezekiel, tau was written like the English “X.” Early Christian interpreters saw in this slanted cross an anticipation of the cross of Christ. Compare also the marking of the doorposts and lintels in the Passover narrative (Ex. 12:21–23).