The pilcrow was a type of rubrication used in the Middle Ages to mark a new train of thought, before the convention of visually discrete paragraphs was commonplace.
The wilderness of Judea mentioned in this verse [Matthew 3:1] is generally taken to refer to the region of Judea sloping down from the highlands to the Dead Sea. This was an arid area not well suited to habitation.
The pilcrow may be used at the start of separate paragraphs or to designate a new paragraph in one long piece of copy
Pilcrow (Wikipedia) The pilcrow, ¶, is a typographical character that marks the start of a paragraph. It is also called the paragraph mark (or sign or symbol), paraph, or blind P.