While we're discussing this cross, also note that the stauros pendiculum is shaped like T, which is the Greek letter tau.  The Greek letter tau is derived from the Paleo Hebrew letter tav, whose appearance is somewhere between an x and a t.  The tav, contrary to those who claim that the cross is of pagan origin, is in fact the mark of salvation.

The tav in Paleo Hebrew was a mark that amounts to the crossing of two sticks to form some kind of a “t”.  When the “t” is turned to an angle, it becomes an “X” of some sort, and of course, marks the spot.

The tav is expressly declared to be a mark of salvation in the will of YAHUAH.  Consider this passage in Yechezq’el:

Yechezq’el (Ezekiel) 9:4

YAHUAH said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Yerushalayim, and set a mark (tav) upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

The word “mark” that is found in this passage is in the Hebrew tav (תָּ֫וִי).  All those who were found in Yerushalayim without this “mark” were slain.  The mark – the tav – is most assuredly the mark of their salvation in this passage; a mark of protection.

We see another example of the mark of YAHUAH being used to protect in Bere’shiyth:

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 4:15

YAHUAH said to him, Therefore whosoever slays Qayin, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And YAHUAH set a mark (oth) upon Qayin, lest any finding him should kill him.

Here the Hebrew word for mark is oth (אוֺת), spelled aleph-vav-tav, which is to say the Aleph Tav, as attached to one another by the vav – the nail. Most often this word is interpreted as a sign, rather than a mark, as we see in Bere’shiyth 1:

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 1:14

And ELOHIYM said, Let there be lights (ma’or) in the firmament of the heaven (shamayim) to divide the day (yomiym) from the night (layilah); and let them be for signs (oth’oth), and for seasons (moediym), and for days (yomiym) יוֹם, and years (shanayim):

We saw a similar connection in the construction of the modern aleph (where two yods are connected by the vav), and the meaning here is similar.  The name for the sign or mark that rescues Qayin from being slain by his brothers and sisters is the divine aleph tav fixed with the nail that is the vav; the sign itself was the tav. 

So we see in the aleph the divine mystery of Elohiym, and in tav the mark of salvation.  Consider the following:

Chizayon (Revelation) 7:1-3

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living ELOHIYM: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our ELOHIYM in their foreheads.

In Yechezq’el we see a mark being set on the foreheads of those who would be spared, and the mark was the tav – the sign of the two crossed sticks.  Here, at the end of the age, we see a seal being fixed – the seal of the living ELOHIYM – on the foreheads of those who would be spared the damnation that follows. Is it not the tav?

Consider this crossing of the sticks again for a moment:

Yechezq’el (Ezekiel) 37:15-17

The word of YAHUAH came again unto me, saying, 16 Moreover, you son of man, take you one stick (etz), and write upon it, For Yahudah, and for the children of Yisra’el his companions: then take another stick (etz), and write upon it, For Yoceph, the stick (etz) of Ephrayim, and for all the house of Yisra’el his companions, 17 And join them one to another into one stick (etz); and they shall become one (echad) in your hand.

This passage is remarkable is so many ways.  Consider what we learned about the stauros pendiculum – the cross - and the xulon – the tree. The tree is a common reference for the stauros pendiculum, or in short, the stauros.  But the word tree in Hebrew is etz.

Consider that, as we discussed previously, MASHIACH’S burden was to carry the pendiculum – one stick, upon which it would be written the setting forth of the YHVH: YAHUSHA H’NETZERI V’MALEK H’YAHUDIYM, which would be joined with the stauros – another stick, for all of the house of Yisra’el, saying in Greek Ιησους (Iasous) Ναζωραιος (Nazoraios) βασιλευς (basileus) ιουδαιος (Ioudaios), which shall become echad – for YAHUAH ELOHAYNU YAHUAH ECHAD – for Yah our Elohiym, Yah is one (Yah alone).

The joining of the pendiculum to the stauros to form a visual mark of the tav, upon which is nailed the aleph tav – the beginning and the end – is a sign (oth) of salvation for all generations.