Illustrated New TestamentRevelation 7

Holding the four winds; holding them back; restraining them, as the symbols of retribution, until the servants of God could be made safe, as is more distinctly expressed in v. 3.

This formal enumeration seems to be intended only to make more distinct and emphatical the divine determination to shield his servants most carefully from danger, when the great day of his wrath shall come.—the Jew first, (4-8,) and also the Gentile, (9.)

While robes, and palms; the emblems of victory and honor.

This dialogue is simply to be understood as a solemn and emphatic mode of introducing the great declaration made by the angel in his reply.