Daniel 12:5

That is, when that angel, who talked to me, left, and appeared to have entered the riverbed, to look for a place to ford. Suddenly two others appeared, standing on the opposite banks. Therefore the angel, while he proceeded in the riverbed and trod the stream in safety, played the role of he who knows the depth of the mysteries of God. So "the one standing on this bank of the stream and the one on the other" represent the symbol of the faculty to ask questions omitted by the prophet, which has been granted to them both. For this reason, as if they had received the faculty to do so, they question the other angel.

Verses 5-6. "And I Daniel looked, and behold as it were two other persons were standing, one on this side upon the river-bank, and the other upon that side, on the other bank of the river. And I said to the man that was clothed in linen, that stood upon the waters of the river, 'How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?'" Daniel saw two angels standing on either side upon the bank of the river of Babylon. Although it is mentioned here without specifying its name, I suppose that in line with the preceding vision it would be the Tigris River, which is called Eddecel (H-d-q-l) in Hebrew. Yet Daniel does not address his question to those who were standing upon either bank, but rather to the one whom he had seen at the beginning, who was clothed in vesture of linen or byssus, which is called baddim (b-d-y-m) in Hebrew. And this same angel was standing upon the waters of the river of Babylon, treading upon them with his feet. From this fact we understand that the former pair of angels whom he saw standing upon the bank and did not question or deem worthy of interrogation were the angels of the Greeks and Persians. But this first angel was the gracious one who had presented Daniel's prayers before God during the twenty-one days while the angel of the Persians was opposing him. And Daniel was asking him about these wonders spoken of in the present vision, as to the time when they should be accomplished. Porphyry, of course, assigns this time to the period of Antiochus, after his usual fashion, whereas we assign it to the time of Antichrist.

After these things were spoken in this way, Daniel says, "And I saw, and behold, two other men were standing, one on the side of the bank of the river and one on the other side of the bank of the river and they answered to the man who stood above the water of the river and they said to him, 'When will be the end of the wondrous words which you have spoken?' And I heard the man who was clothed in linen, who was above the water of the river and he raised his right and his left hand to heaven and swore by him who lives for ever that in time and times and half of the time, when the dispersion is consummated, they will know all these things." [Daniel 12:5-7] And so who were the two men who were standing alongside the bank of the river except the law and the prophets? And who was the one who stood above the water except he himself, concerning whom they themselves heralded long ago, who was destined to be visibly testified by the Father at the Jordan in the end and to be shown to the people in openness by John, who carries the ink of a scribe and linen around his loins and being dressed with a multicolored tunic. These, seeing him, learned that to him was given all rule and authority, so that they understood exactly concerning him, when he is about to bring judgment to the world and when what was spoken by him shall be fulfilled. But he, wishing to persuade these according to every way, raised his right hand and his left hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever.