Abraham rose and saw the one who had grasped his hand and lifted him to his feet.
The sight was overwhelming. Iaoel's body was like sapphire. His face shone like chrysolite. The hair of his head was white as snow. Upon his head sat a turban that looked like the arc of a rainbow. His garments were purple, the color of royalty. In his right hand he held a golden scepter.
This was no ordinary messenger. Iaoel was an angel invested with the appearance of divine glory itself, a figure drawn from the same heavenly language as the prophet Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 1:26), with hair like snow recalling the Ancient of Days in Daniel's vision (Daniel 7:9).
"Abraham!" the angel said.
"Here I am, your servant."
"Do not let my appearance frighten you, nor my speech disturb your soul. Come with me. I will go with you, visible until the sacrifice, but after the sacrifice, invisible forever. Be of good cheer. Come!"
The angel would accompany Abraham in visible form only for the journey ahead. Once the sacrifice was complete and the heavenly revelation given, Iaoel would vanish from mortal sight forever. This was a one-time escort through the boundary between earth and heaven.