They include those who have rejected idolatry in favor of the true God and those among the Israelites scattered across the globe. The apostle Peter writes to these individuals (1 Pet. 1). They will arrive on horses, chariots, stretchers, mules, and carts. Unlike other translations, which depict carts, Simmachus alone interprets this differently; Aquila, the Seventy, and Theodotion mention mules. The LXX refers to covered shining vehicles with tents (cum umbraculis), which might be interpreted as spaces for rest (dormitoria) or chairs for reclining (basternae). Others have translated it similarly as φορείς, which we might render as different types of vehicles (vehicula). The LXX and Theodotion describe them as gleaming, covered carriages (lampenae), while Simmachus describes them as stretchers, and Aquila provides the term σκεπαστάς, indicating stretchers covered with leather. This highlights the differences in translations.
By referencing horses, chariots, stretchers, mules, and carts, and various means of transport, we can infer a symbolic representation of the multitude of angels. In another passage, it is written, "Thou art all on Thy horses, and Thy salvation is revealed" (Hab. 3:8). It is on these metaphoric horses and chariots that Elijah ascended into heaven, and Elisha demonstrated this to the young man, revealing he was surrounded and protected by these angels (2 Kings 2). Zechariah also had a vision one night: "Behold, a man on a red horse, standing between the mountains, with red, grey, mottled, and white horses behind him." When Zechariah questioned the meaning, the angel replied, "These are they which the Lord sent to cover the earth" (Zech. 1:8-10). John, in the Book of Revelation, testified, "I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and He who sat on it was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war" (Rev. 19:11). The Lord and Saviour, seated on a red horse, is described thus: "Why are your garments stained?" and "Who is He who comes from Edom, His garments stained from Vosor" (Isa. 63:1). The various colored horses that followed Him symbolize different virtues: scarlet for generosity, grey for swiftness, mottled for various virtues, and white for purity. He rode a white horse following His resurrection, embodying an immortal and imperishable body. All who accompany Him are likewise on white horses, representing incorruptible and immortal bodies.
If we were to delve deeper into this subject along with other testimonies, we could elaborate on the different means of transport by which individuals come to faith, understood as angels or saints who have ascended to a higher state (qui profecerunt in angelos). Each person is accompanied by angels, as affirmed in many Scriptures, including, "Do not despise one of these little ones, for their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 18:10). Furthermore, when Rhoda announced the arrival of the apostle Peter, many assumed it was his angel (Acts 2). If this applies to the least among us, how much more so to the saints, especially the apostles, whose angels behold the Father’s face daily, as stated, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him" (Ps. 34:8). Jacob proclaimed, "An angel that delivereth me" (Gen. 48:16). These angels ascend and descend upon the Son of Man. Those filled with faith are transported on horses, those rich in grace on quadrupeds, while those in need of comfort are carried on covered stretchers and tents, that they may hear, "The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night" (Ps. 121:6).
In Scripture, mules can be interpreted in two manners: either as a symbol of barrenness and self-restraint, which David and Solomon rode, denoting strength and peace, or negatively, as reflected in the admonition, "Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding" (Ps. 32:9), over which Doeg held authority (1 Sam. 21). The carts, which the Seventy translated as covered caravans, should be understood as those instruments that signify: "Bear one another's burdens" (Gal. 6:2). The shining covered vehicles (lamrepae) may be seen as the luminescent bodies of the saints, illuminated by faith in the Lord, to whom it is said, "You are the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14).
All these preparations are aimed at our entry into God's holy city, or the sacred mountain of the Lord, Jerusalem—not the Jerusalem that persecuted prophets and stoned those sent to it, but the heavenly Jerusalem, which we have often referenced: "But the Jerusalem from above is free, and she is our mother" (Gal. 4:26). Additionally, we are invited to "Come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Heb. 12:22). This can be understood in relation to the present Church, gathered globally through the apostles, or as a prophetic vision of the future Church, fulfilling the apostle’s words inspired by the Holy Spirit: "We shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:17).
Those adhering to Jewish beliefs, including the Ebionites who inherited Jewish misconceptions and are often referred to as the poor due to their limited understanding, interpret the references to horses, quadrupeds, chariots, stretchers, mules, and all forms of transport as signifying that at the end of the world, when Christ reigns in Jerusalem, the rebuilt temple will witness the return of the people of Israel from all corners of the earth, not on horses, but on Numidian mules. Rulers from distant lands, such as Britons, Spaniards, Gauls, and others from territory divided by the two-horned Rhine, shall arrive in carts, received by nations prepared to serve them.
THEOSIS