זוהר בראשית — דף צד ע”א

The Zohar concludes the companions’ words about David, who did not guard the sign of the covenant as he should have, was driven from Jerusalem and saw kingship taken from him for a time. On the verse “Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul would soon have dwelt in silence,” it says that when a person leaves this world the destroying angels see the sign of the covenant and withdraw, and he is not handed over to Dumah to descend to Gehinnom. David asked “Show me Him and His dwelling” so that kingship would return to him. The text then examines the verse “From my flesh I shall see God”: the soul clings to the person marked with the sign of the covenant, and the letters of the upper pair rest upon him. Finally Rabbi Abba asks why the companions remain in this place.