He is the angel in whom God makes himself present. In this passage, he is three times called the “angel of the Lord” (vv. 7, 9, 11) and once his title is shortened to “angel” (v. 10). But in that instance, we read, “The angel added, ‘I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count,’” a promise that reminds us of the promise given earlier to Abram by the Lord himself (Genesis 15:5).
7 The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.