above him stood the seraphim. each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. [isaiah 6:2]
glory beyond measure
as isaiah experiences this astonishing vision of the temple and the Lord’s glory, he also has interactions with seraphim. isaiah 6 gives us a unique perspective of these heavenly beings and defines their very important role.
these angelic beings are clearly messengers on behalf of the Lord and spend their time in worship of him. it is difficult to imagine exactly what they would have looked like, with the only description being of their six wings and the purposes of those wings. Speaking of wings, among the mentions of angels in the bible, this is the first of just a few passages that describe any of them as having wings.
it is perhaps surprising that the bible does not give us a more detailed description of angels, or specifically, these seraphim. yet the reason is likely because their purpose is not to be noticed, but to bring glory and praise to the King of Kings, whose glory is beyond measure. They exist only for the purpose of praise, and as messengers from God to humanity.
isaiah is experiencing God’s majesty in a powerful way, and this same appreciation for who God is remains readily available to us! we may not be standing in the temple or seeing seraphim in the room, but the inescapable glory of God is ever-present and ever at work among us. because of Jesus, we have access to the throne room of God through prayer and reading of scripture. we can sense his call on our lives, and we can know beyond a doubt that he alone is God, worthy of our worship, and desiring of a relationship with each of us.
~ jason soroski