[13] As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing “the whirling wheels.”
The word translated “the whirling wheels” is galgal גַּלְגַּל.
It can mean “wheel” or “whirling” or even “whirlwind” or “chariot.”
The emphasis common to all is the turning motion—rotating, spinning, cycling, wheeling.
(Say “galgal” several times. Get it?)
I’ve talked before about the symbolism of the wheel and how a chariot relates to hierarchy. This vision too is all about hierarchy:
From the highest angelic ranks to the dust of the earth, all of creation is represented here as mobilized to bring about the purposes of God, under God’s powerful, watchful eye.
(The “eyes” on everything probably connect to the declaration “My eye will not spare…”, repeated some eight times in Ezekiel in some form.)
The wheel-within-a-wheel imagery is, similarly, the hierarchical orbits of God’s ordained purposes and plans. From the movements of the celestial clocks to earthly seasons and tides—and including the cycles of human history—the mills of God turn.
(Yes: metaphors nested in (different) metaphors.)
All pointing to the conclusion that the glory of God is leaving the temple, leaving Israel/Judah.
And Israel/Judah itself is in exile—another circular image—lost and wandering in circles in a foreign land, rather than home, squares, lots, buildings, fields, pillars, heritage, stability, etc.
Time vs. space in a fallen world.