At Israel’s exodus from Egypt the Lord led his people by day “in a pillar of cloud” and by night “in a pillar of fire” (Exodus 13:21). This mighty angel’s two legs are each compared to this “pillar of fire.” With this comparison the Lord is reminding John and his readers that he continues to lead his people on their journey out of earth’s Egypt‑of‑sin and toward the glorious Promised Land of the New Jerusalem, even if that journey needs to go through hard places (as the blowing of the seventh trumpet will show). To be clear, the Greek does not speak of “legs” but of “feet,” a clarification that becomes important when we get to verse Revelation 10:2b. Even so, the Greek term “foot” can denote in Scripture more than that part of the anatomy below the ankle (Genesis 49:10; Deuteronomy 28:57).
1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.