For the LOOKUP formula to work as intended the lookup value, in this case 9^9
needs to be a number greater than any number that the FIND function will
return. Because the maximum number of characters in a cell is 32767 then 9^9
(387420489) more than fulfills that requirement.
Note: normally you would use equal sized ranges i.e.
It means "9 to the power of 9". It is a totally unnecessary
complication in this context, unless it has some cultural
significance. In this context, you want "a large number". Any large
number will do; better to use a constant like 1E+300 than an
expression that must be evaluated.
(By the way, 1E+300 is "scientific notation" for "1 times 10 to the
power of 300". It is very near the largest value that Excel permits
to be entered.)