The fact that this Angel is Daniel signifies the content of the Revelation; i.e., it is to be the fulfillment of the prophecies to Daniel concerning the “end” and which he did not understand previously, Daniel 12:8.
Daniel Did Not Understand
When Daniel did not understand, the Angel told him, 12:9: “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end…..(13) But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.”
Daniel could not understand because the prophecy was concerned with the destruction of the City and Temple, the defeat of the chosen people, the desolation of the sanctuary, the successful exploits of the evil prince against the holy covenant. Even the holy place was to be desecrated and the daily sacrifice caused to cease, Daniel chapters 9, 10, 11.
Even the wisest of men could not reason as to how the Most High God, the Covenant keeping God who had made everlasting promise to David, and who had said of Jerusalem: “I have chosen Jerusalem that my name might be there,” 2 Chronicles 6:6. Even after she had been sorely punished for her sins, Zechariah could still say: “The Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem, Zechariah 1:17; 2:12. And: “I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem,” Zechariah 8:3).
Daniel Did Not Know Christ
Daniel did not yet know Christ as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He did not yet see that the fleshly kingdom could be translated into a heavenly kingdom in Christ, and that, in the crucifixion, the old nation would die, but in the resurrection the nation lived again with the eternal Life which God had ordained from the beginning.
In that great mystery, hidden even from Daniel for a time, is that which the New Testament reveals and of which the Book of Revelation is the epitome. The Book of Revelation shows the Great Revealer of Secrets at work again. And Daniel was in on it.
The End Of The Days
The “end of the days” that Daniel had prophesied was the “seventy weeks of years” and a “time, times, and dividing of times”. Daniel was promised that he would stand in his lot at the end of these times. The word lot refers to the lot for assigning to service or duty as the priests to their courses; singers, musicians and porters were assigned to their positions by lot as in 1Chronicles chapters 24, 25, and 26.
So Daniel was to have an assigned place of duty and service, his lot, at the “end of the days”. Therefore, since the Book of Revelation is about the consummation and confirmation of the Messianic fulfillment of Daniel’s visions, we should expect Daniel to be there,doing his duty, receiving his recompense and participating in the revelation of Jesus Christ. And that is exactly what we do see in the role of the Signifying Angel of the Book of Revelation.
Daniel’s position in the Book of Revelation as the Signifying Angel, is evidence, if not proof positive, that the Book was written to show the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecies of the end of the natural, physical nation of Israel, the natural race of Jewish people, and the literal City, Jerusalem. It happened on time in 70 AD.
The nation was translated from the physical to the spiritual; the natural race was translated to the spiritual race of the New Birth in Christ, the Church; the literal city was translated into the heavenly City, the New Jerusalem. The Kingdom of God had been established on earth and God was again dwelling in the midst of His people.