The hidden secrets of the testimonies foretold concerning Christ and the church are now revealed. [The seven angels with the seven plagues] are the church against which a hostile portion rebelled through unending treacheries. Therefore it says that plagues come out, either for the defense of the saints in whom the Lord Christ earlier had suffered abuse, as he said to Paul, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” or, as James noted, the time of judgment begins with the household of God. To be sure, persons will be scourged in a twofold manner, so that the just God might punish their sins, as in the case of Pharaoh, or that he might test their virtues by a greater trial, as in the case of Job. And therefore we read concerning him, “The Lord has tested me, as gold that passes through fire; I have kept his ways, and I have not departed from the commandments of his lips.” The number of the angels and the plagues prefigures the universal extent of the consummation, as it says often in Leviticus, “I will smite you with seven plagues.” “They are clothed in pure white linen.” Mortification is often indicated by a linen garment. If, then, the blameless judgments of God are recognized in that which is white, the sense is aptly applied also to these pure linen garments, so that those who are mortified are made snow-white by this whiteness, when they behold the glory of God at the revelation of his judgments. “They were girded with golden girdles.” Scripture teaches that gold signifies wisdom, as it says, “Receive wisdom as gold.” And it is rightly around the breast, where according to the law the priest is often commanded to wear the logium, that is, what is intellectual, so that his mind is well aware of divine things and does not despise them but rather praises the divine judgments and by the brightness of the gold on him also urges others to praise them unhesitatingly.
The seer says that a “tent” was in heaven, and it was according to the likeness of this tent that God commanded Moses to build the tabernacle below. He says that from this temple angels proceeded out, dressed in “pure linen” or, as some copies have it, in a “pure stone.” Their dress indicates the purity of their natures and the proximity that they have to Christ, the Cornerstone, and the brightness of their virtue. The phrase “girded with golden girdles” refers to the power and the purity and the honor of their nature and to the freedom they have in their works of service.
And behold, the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened. The vision harmonizes with the song. For the Lord to be worshipped by all nations, that temple of God's secrets, once enclosed within the walls of a single city, has now begun to be spiritually opened to the whole world.
The tent of testimony was the tent constructed in the wilderness by Bezalel, the master-builder of the artifacts made at that time; it was the custom in Holy Scripture to call it thus because it was the tent of the testimonies and commands of God. For in it was the ark of the covenant, the mercy-seat, the table, the altars of incense and of burnt offering, the lampstand, and all that God had commanded blessed Moses to construct, when he said, “And you shall make for me all that I show you on the mountain.” For this reason he has used the metaphor of the old tent to describe the nature of the heavenly temple by calling it the tent of testimony.
From there, he says, the seven angels came out. From where else could the heavenly ministers of God be seen coming out except from the heavenly temple?
He says they had in their hands seven plagues, which they were going to let fall on the earth. For many signs will come about on earth at the time of the end, which Christ also mentioned in the gospels when teaching about the end.
The clothing of the angels with a pure bright stone is a sign of their worth, purity, and radiance, and points to their natural steadfastness for good, since they had indeed put on Christ. For the Lord is named a stone in Holy Scripture, as found in Isaiah, “Behold, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a stone, very costly and chosen,” and in the prophet, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.” Very wise Paul also advises us to put on this stone: “Put on our” stone “Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” For whoever is clothed in this is out of reach of every lust that harms the soul.
The girdles symbolize their capability and preparedness, for it is said of them, “Mighty in power are they who keep his word.”
For these seven angels have taken from one of the four living creatures, of whom much was said earlier, the wrath of God in seven golden bowls. “Golden” was well said, for even the wrath of God is precious, bringing with it what is good and more profitable than justice, even if those suffering punishment are in anguish.
He says, And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. The smoke is a sign of the divine wrath, for Scripture says, “Smoke went up in his wrath.” Smoke is indicative of fire; but there is also the smoke that blessed Isaiah saw where he says, “And the lintel shook at the voices of the seraphim as they sang” the Trisagion, “and the house was filled with smoke.” He was describing the wrath of God directed against Jerusalem.
The words from the glory of God and from his power are a kind of periphrasis for the smoke, as if he said, “it was filled with smoke from the wrath of God,” for God himself is the power and the glory, and who could bear his wrath?
He says, And no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended: for who will mount up on the wrath of God, or who will remain alive when caught in it? “For if no one has stood at the feet of the Lord,” according to Scripture, scarcely could anyone endure God’s wrath.
He says, And I heard a command of one who came out that they should pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the divine wrath.
[AD 560] Primasius of Hadrumetum on Revelation 15:5-6