Twenty-Four Elders

The Twenty-Four Elders appear in the Book of Revelation (4:4) of the Christian Bible.

In front of the Throne are four remarkable beasts (living creatures): one of them is like a lion, another resembles an eagle, the third has the appearance of a calf, and the fourth has the face of a man.

These beasts have six wings each, and are full of eyes all over; and they rest not night and day, but keep on blessing the One on the Throne.

Wings are a symbol for time, since it flies; and the number six is descriptive of the six aras (spokes) or a half-cycle in which four and twenty Tirthamkaras appear and preach the Truth.

Plainly put, the significance of the secret teaching is only this that Life is Divine, and its divinity is manifested most perfectly and fully in the case of four and twenty Tirthamkaras, who appear in a half-cycle of time, consisting of six aras, and preach the Noble Truth to and for the benefit of the souls embodied in material bodies.