Who Are the 144,000 and What is their Purpose?

The symbolic 144,000 saved believers represent both the living & the resurrected "elect" who will be raptured *after* the Great Tribulation! In other words, the 144K represent the entire church of Christ, which comprises people from every nation on earth. Therefore, their *purpose* is the same as ours, namely, to get *saved* (and not to take the mark of the beast) so that they can escape "the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord"!