10:1 And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire;

And I saw another STRONG ANGEL coming down out of HEAVEN,

Many Bible scholars believe this is Jesus Christ himself, but Christ never is denoted as an ANGEL in Revelation. This must be an angel just as the verse says. From the attributes which follow, this angel may be a personal attendance angel and assigned specifically to "care" for and do Jesus bidding. It may, in fact, be the same as one of the two 'men' seen at Christ's ascension (Acts 1:9-11) {The other may be the strong angel referred to in Revelation 18:1}. From the following description, it is clear, this angel has been in Christ's presence a lot. He reflects Christ just as we, too, are supposed to reflect Christ (John 3:16-21; John 12:27-36)

The term 'another' denotes an angel different than the ones with the seven trumpets. This angel's attributes:

  • clothed with a CLOUD; and

    Even this angel has mysteries about him; these are some of the 'hidden wisdom' in 1 Corinthians 2:6-9 that we are not shown.

    The cloud indicates God's glory and protection:

  • the RAINBOW was upon his head, and

    Even in the midst of the tribulation, we are reminded of the first rainbow covenant (Genesis 9:13-17). We saw it earlier around the Lord's throne (Revelation 4:3) even as Ezekiel saw the Divine Glory (Ezekiel 1:28). There is mercy STILL even though the world does not show Him, Christ, mercy (Revelation 9:20-21 --> Matthew 27:27-31).

  • his face was like the SUN, and

    When you are in Christ's presence, you will glow too. (Matthew 17:1-3 and Exodus 34:29-30).

  • his feet like pillars of FIRE.

    His goings about are like a fire. For the believer, it is refining, Malachi 3:1-3. For the non-believer, it is CONSUMING JUDGMENT (Hebrews 12:25-29).