When Moses ascended to heaven to receive the Torah, a cloud crouched before him like a living creature. He did not know whether to ride it or grab hold of it. The cloud opened, swallowed him inside, and carried him upward. Then Moses walked across the firmament the way a person walks across the earth.
The first angel he encountered was Qemuel, commander of 12,000 angels of destruction who guard the gates of heaven. Qemuel rebuked him immediately. "You come from a place of defilement and dare walk in this place of purity? What is one born of woman doing in a place of fire?" Moses answered simply: "I am the son of Amram, and I have come to receive the Torah for Israel."
Next came Hadarniel, who stood 60,000 parasangs above the other angels. Every word Hadarniel spoke sent 12,000 sparks of fire flying from his mouth. Moses heard that voice and wept, trembling so violently he nearly fell from the cloud. But God intervened, telling Hadarniel that the angels had been nothing but accusers since the day of creation, and that without Israel receiving the Torah, neither God nor the angels would have a dwelling in the firmament at all.
Hadarniel immediately became Moses' guide, walking before him like a student before a teacher, until they reached the fire of Sandalphon. This angel stands so far above his peers that it would take a journey of 500 years to cross from his head to his feet. Sandalphon weaves crowns of prayer for God from the words of Israel, and when the crown reaches the Throne of Glory, every heavenly host trembles.
Moses pressed on through the river Rigyon, a stream of fire where angels are born and consumed daily, and past the angels of terror that surround the Throne of Glory itself. They tried to burn him with their breath, but God spread the glory of His throne around Moses like a shield. Moses challenged them: "What use is the Torah to you? The Exodus does not apply to you. You do not worship idols or swear false oaths." At that, every angel became his friend. Each one handed him a secret, and even the angel of death revealed his own mystery. Then God opened the seven firmaments, showed Moses the heavenly temple, and sent him back down carrying the Torah like a captured bride, while 120 myriads of angels placed two crowns on every Israelite who said, "We shall do and we shall obey."