As frightening as it was, Daniel's vision of the human-like figure was comforting. This dazzling and powerful figure would be the one to judge humanity, and the days of Israel's enemies were ending. They were being oppressed by various imperial powers, but the vision assured Daniel that their power and strength were merely temporary.

In the pages of the New Testament, this figure was interpreted as that of Jesus and His role at the end of history. We should not despair at the world's injustice and violence. God is always victorious in the end. Jesus seemed to know everything.

He saw Nathaniel even before he was called and could read his heart. Nathaniel was so impressed he declared that Jesus was the son of God and the king of Israel. Jesus brushed aside those titles and revealed that Nathaniel would see even greater things: angels descending and ascending on the Son of Man, just as in Jacob's dream in Genesis 28. This heavenly traffic represents the path to God that Jesus has opened for us. The veil between this world and the world of the spirit is thin and transparent if only we look with the eyes of the heart.