The earthly sea symbolizes chaos, danger, and the restless, rebellious nations and wicked of the world. Psalm 65:7 equates the roar of the seas with the tumult of peoples, and Isaiah 57:20-21 says the wicked are like the troubled sea, casting up mire and dirt, with no peace. The beast of Revelation 13 rises from the sea, which stands for the Babylonian world system of government, economics, and military power, whose counterfeit "order out of chaos" brings suffering under Satan's influence. The sea also pushes against the boundaries God set for it (Job 38; Jeremiah 5), yet God controls it, as Christ showed by calming the storm on Galilee, so the threat of chaos is ultimately hollow. Sin likewise strikes like a rogue wave, though God casts forgiven sins into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19). In contrast, the Sea of Glass before God's throne, prefigured by the bronze sea of Solomon's Temple, symbolizes chaos subdued and ordered, along with God's holiness, purity, peace, clarity, righteousness, and omniscience. Its mingled fire reflects His righteous judgment and the dynamic glory around the throne. Only those cleansed and righteous stand on it. Revelation 21:1 says there is no more sea in the New Earth, signifying the end of every threat to God's creation and sovereignty. This does not mean no more water, but a changed, spiritual arrangement.

The earthly sea symbolizes perpetual unrest, chaos, danger, and destruction. Psalm 65:7 equates the roar of the seas with the tumult of peoples, Isaiah and Jeremiah liken invading armies to the thundering sea, and James 1:6 compares the doubter to a wave tossed by the wind. Isaiah 57:20-21 and Jude 13 picture the wicked as the troubled sea casting up mire and dirt, with no peace. The sea also represents the Babylonian world system from which the Beast rises (Revelation 13:1), a counterfeit "order out of chaos" that brings suffering and death. Yet the sea is not sovereign. God sets its boundaries (Job 38:8-11; Jeremiah 5:22-23), dries it up or looses it in judgment, and Christ rebukes the winds and sea so that there is great calm. Its defiance pictures the rebellious heart, but the threat of chaos is ultimately hollow. Solomon's bronze Sea, a great basin of water for cleansing, represents chaos subdued and brought to order by the Creator. In sharp contrast, the sea of glass before God's throne, like crystal, is perfectly smooth and still. It symbolizes fixed holiness, eternal peace, and the absence of evil and chaos in heaven. Those cleansed by the Word and the blood of the Lamb will stand and bow upon it before God.

The sea is a symbol of instability, agitation, restlessness, and changeability. James 1:6 likens the doubter to a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind, and Isaiah 57:20 says the wicked are like the troubled sea that cannot rest, casting up mire and dirt. In Revelation the waters also stand for people, since Revelation 17:15 says the waters are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. The sea therefore represents the ever-shifting sea of humanity, with its political storms, confusion, and wrestling for power. This explains why the first beast of Revelation 13 rises out of the sea: it is a political, military, and governmental entity of pure power, arising out of volatility, and world power constantly shifts as kingdoms rise and fall. The sea contrasts with the earth, which symbolizes firmness, endurance, and sameness, and is worldly as opposed to heavenly. The second beast rises from the earth because it comes from religion, which supplies humanity's need for stability and changes little through successive governments. Both beasts have worldly origins, in contrast to the heavenly source of God's actions and proclamations in Revelation.

The church constitutes Christ's treasure, hidden in the world, purchased and redeemed with Christ's blood. The Pearl of Great Price depicts a rich merchant (Christ), the only one who had the means to redeem His church. The Dragnet symbolizes the scope of God's calling while the separation process indicates God's high standards of selection, indicating a time of righteous and impartial judgment. The Householder parable shows the responsibility of the ministry to be authoritative interpreters of scripture, using what they have learned and experienced to instruct the people.