Note 1 for verse 1, Wonder
    The woman in the sky is considered to be the first of seven wonders or signs.
        Woman
            Dragon - Michael
            Beast - Lamb
            Beast from the earth - Coming of Son of Man

Note 2 for verse 1, Who is the woman?  The passages pointed to by links often include more than one verse.
     "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:" (Rev. 12:1).
    First we notice that this is a new scene and a new vision and it's symbolic. John's attention is drawn to the woman in the sky. What might she represent? Many women appear in Bible history. Could it be one of them? We can't think of any who could be represented as dressed in the sun and above the moon. However, we do find one who is called, "the woman." in ge0313.
   So is the woman Eve? We aren't ready to say. But remember that Eve was wearing fig leaves, not the sun, when she heard this sentence from God ge0307. What else can we learn from our verse? Here is another passage about a symbolic woman. God, through Isaiah, is addressing His people in captivity.
   "For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name. . . . For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit. . . .For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee." (Isa. 52:5-7). Also see je0602, is5406.
   We'll see Eve again later v9.

Mary
   Also we recall how Jesus once addressed His mother, "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." (John 2:4). So Mary may be seen in the picture, too, but not as "the mother of God." Pagans had goddesses which were seen as "queen of heaven." The pure woman pictured here is not queen of heaven any more than the dragon is king. (We see both the woman and the dragon (coming in verse 3) in the sky or "heaven.").
   Here's a passage to clarify Mary's role or absence thereof: "Then came to him [Jesus] his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it." (Luke 18:19-21) mt1246. We'll see Mary again, too.
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Clothed with the sun
   We turn back to Isaiah. He is addressing Zion, God's people, telling them about the coming Redeemer. "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." (Isa. 60:1-3)
   Here the clothing of Zion would be the glory of the Lord. His glory is His character ex3318. Notice another passage about the clothing of Zion, is6110.
   So the woman clothed with the sun is God's faithful people who have taken on His glory or character, which they receive constantly from the Sun of righteousness mal0402. God's people are His church.

Twelve stars

  ^   And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: (Rev. 12:1).

From what source might the symbolism in the twelve stars have been drawn?
   "And he [Joseph] said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. . . . And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me." (Gen. 37:6-9).
   The twelve stars here are the sons of Jacob. As you remember, Joseph's brothers hated him and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. When famine came to his family, they got grain from Egypt, bowing before the prime minister not knowing that it was Joseph. Thus his dreams were fulfilled. The situation is a little different in the woman's crown. We see no difference among the stars. We'll see why in a minute.
   The word translated "crown" is stephanos which is a garland, a wreath of victory, in contrast to diadema or "diadem" which is a crown of royalty. This reinforces our idea that the woman is the victorious and purified church.
   Jacob had prevailed with God and was renamed, Israel 0801c.  After the famine, Israel moved his family to Egypt where they later became slaves. God's people who left Egypt were the "children of Israel" which are recognized as twelve distinct tribes, one for each son. The conquered land of Canaan was divided among the tribes which represented their political relationship — the Israelite leadership of the Old Testament.
   Of course, the woman we see is in the New Testament. After the rejection of Christ, the promises of God have been inherited by a new Israel 0705.

Another set of twelve
    Our Lord took twelve disciples. That number was not by chance. This symbol of leadership of the church of the New Testament was different from that of the past. In the Old Testament it was the twelve tribes. Both are seen in the New Jerusalem 2112or the whole page.
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Why would she stand on the moon?
   We have more to learn. Certainly the lady is not an astronaut. Notice that the moon is "under her feet."
   She wears a crown of stars on her head. Thus sun, moon, and stars are all in the picture. We have seen the sun as the source of her righteousness and the stars in her crown as the identify of her domain — all God's people before and after the cross. What then is the moon?
   We notice that it is "under her feet." This language means subjection 1ki0503, ps04703. She has the moon under control. Keeping this in mind, notice the following passage about sun, moon, and stars:
   "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good." (Gen. 1:16, 17).
   Why would the woman want to subjugate the moon? We saw that it ruled the night which is the time of darkness. "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet [qualified us] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:" co0112f. Also ps01809. We are not saying that the moon is bad. We only see it as a symbol of evil when compared with the sun. Compare ps00805f. God has delivered us from the Satan's domain of sin. Notice Paul's commission of bringing light in ac2618. The woman is living in victory over sin.
    Later in the chapter we will see Satan described as "that old serpent" or, in other translations, "the serpent of old" re1209a. What did God tell the serpent soon after the beginning of life on this planet?
    "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
    In the picture, the snake bites the woman and she stamps on its head. Here she stands on the dragon's domain — the moon. Thus we have her justification – covered with the robe of Christ's righteousness – and her sanctification – victory over the powers of darkness.

Who then is the woman?
   The remainder of her offspring are seen in the final verse in the chapter to be people who "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." The woman herself then represents the faithful of all ages, the pure church of Christ made up of faithful people since the beginning of time.

   By God's grace you and I may be a part of the faithful ones.