No graduation is made complete without a cap and gown!

Attention has been drawn to the unique marks engraved on the graduation gown and square caps worn by the 111,628 graduates of the '110,000 Graduation of Class 115 of Zion Christian Mission Center' who completed the six-month Bible education course at the Zion Christian Mission Centre, the theological education institute of Shincheonji Church of Jesus. What is the significance of the graduation gown and cap?

With regards to the graduation gown, the Throne Mark of Shincheonji Church of Jesus (New Heaven New Earth), drawn on the back and chest, symbolises the Holy City New Jerusalem that comes down to the New Heaven and New Earth, which has been created according to the image of heaven as seen in Revelation 4 and Revelation 21. The two outer rings represent the heavens and the earth, and the square within the circle represents the kingdom of God, the Holy City New Jerusalem. The jasper and ruby coloured Bible in the centre symbolise God, who has the Word of eternal life (Jn 1:1, Rv 4:2-3), and the rainbow colours surrounding the throne symbolise God’s covenant. The cross in the centre symbolises the way of Jesus’ cross, and the well of living water flowing out symbolises the path through which God’s words come out. The tree with twelve kinds of fruit represents the twelve tribes of the new Israel who receive the words of eternal life and bear twelve kinds of fruit every month. The throne mark is officially registered with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (trademark number: 42-0001873). Wearing the graduation robe is evidence that one is a citizen of God’s holy city, New Jerusalem.

Now, the reason why the graduation cap is square is because the square in Revelation 21:16 represents the New Jerusalem, the holy city of the spiritual world, and it means that they were educated in front of the throne of the spiritual world. In the centre of the graduation cap is an open Bible made of jasper and ruby, which represents the theology of the revealed word, that is, the word of the fulfilled reality. Inside the book are engraved the Alpha and Omega, which signify that the kingdom of God will be completed as promised in the Bible. The fact that the graduation cap was made so that it could touch the forehead of the graduate means that the graduates have mastered the revealed word from beginning to end and have completed the theology promised in the Bible. At the graduation ceremony, the instructor moves the graduates’ graduation cap tassels from the left side where the A (alpha) is located to the right side where the Ω (omega) is located, symbolising that the graduates have been born again with the seed of God’s word and have been sealed by the revealed word, becoming complete children of God.