Verse 10 says, "Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" Here the Holy Spirit speaks through the mouth of a third party again and brings out the maiden's glory through exclamatory questions.
All four questions refer to the maiden. The Holy Spirit likes to stimulate the thoughts of the believers with questions; He arouses their attention once again to consider God's work and understand what is pleasing to God. Every time the Holy Spirit poses a question, it comes after a renewed perfecting on the part of the maiden. This was the case in chapter three. It is repeated again in chapter eight. Here we see the same pattern. Every time the believer reaches a higher level of experience, the Holy Spirit uses questions to reveal the history or reason behind the experience.
"Looketh forth as the morning." She has arrived at the morning again. The word "morning" is the same word as "day break" in 2:17 and 4:6. Her shadows have fled away; there is no further barrier between her and the Lord. She enters into a life without barrier. Although it is not yet high noon, it is nevertheless morning. Her future is as bright as the morning light, and her hope is as promising as the morning. She can look forward to everything, as morning looks forth toward the day. The future and the hope of the morning is high noon. She has already received the promise of high noon (Prov. 4:18). The way of a righteous man in the hand of the Lord goes only as far as high noon; there is nothing after high noon.
"Fair as the moon." The emphasis here is not on the waxing or waning of the moon, but on the beauty of it, which is the soft glow that emanates from it. She is heavenly, yet she shines on earth and reveals her testimony to those in darkness (Psa. 89:37).
"Clear as the sun." This means that there is no shadow; she is full of light. Both the sun and the moon signify her heavenliness. The moon signifies the grace within her, while the sun signifies what she is in the Lord. In herself, she is dead. Like the moon, she has no life and no vitality of her own, and the light and life come from the sun. When she faces the sun, there is light. When she turns her back to the sun, there is darkness. However, as far as her being in the Lord is concerned, she is clear as the sun. She is a totally new creation. There is only light; there is no darkness. Just as the Lord is the sun, she is also a sun.
"Terrible as an army with banners." Not only does she have a future that is full of hope, and a life that is absolutely heavenly, but she is a victor who constantly triumphs in her victory. She is "terrible as an army with banners." She goes from victory to victory. Do you know such a one? Have you seen her?