415. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying in the midst of heaven. (8:13) This symbolizes instruction and prediction from the Lord.

In the highest sense an angel means the Lord, and so also something from the Lord (no. 344). And to fly in the midst of heaven and speak means, symbolically, to perceive and understand, and when said of the Lord, to foresee and provide (no. 245). But here it means to instruct and predict.

9757. 'Their pillars, and the bases of these, ten' means the quantity also of supporting forms of good, and of truths springing from these, needed for the purposes they have to serve. This is clear from the meaning of 'pillars' as forms of good which provide support, as above in 9747; from the meaning of 'bases' as truths springing from good which also provide support, dealt with above in 9748; and from the meaning of 'ten' as a sufficient amount or the amount needed for the purposes they have to serve. The situation with the forms of good and the truths that provide support is similar to that with the actual truths that are being supported, 9756; therefore 'ten' here implies much the same as 'fifty' or 'five', that is to say, the amount needed for the purposes they have to serve. Ten is also a product of five when multiplied, being the double of it, and multiple numbers are similar in meaning to the simple ones which are their factors, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973.