Something About Angels Bearing Flaming Swords

Three's a crowd.

I found an old discussion about the infamous hardcover edition dustjacket of The Revenge of the Wizard’s Ghost (1985).

Readers will recall the trio of images appear in a stained-glass window, itself appearing in Johnny Dixon’s dream near the beginning of the book: the hooded figure with the extended tentacle, the old man holding a scroll, and the angel with the flaming sword. Two of those individuals appear elsewhere in the book; the angel does not. I remember initially eagerly anticipating this character’s memorable entry. After all, “Zeb and Brother Tentacles” (still a good one, Ace) are introduced in in such memorable scenes. Not so this angel.

So, what about his flaming sword? Historically this device is an attribute of both the angels Jophiel and Uriel, the latter of whom is often identified as a cherub standing at the Gate of Eden with a fiery sword (Genesis 3:24) or as the angel who "watches over thunder and terror" (1 Enoch 20:2).

That said, the discussions I found centered around what the angel represented in the context of the Windrow window:

Allusions to the angel with the flaming sword that cast Adam and Eve out of Eden, perhaps? I'm sure there's a connection there. Maybe something along the lines of the Windrow family denied "eternal rest" because of their evil deeds

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For some reason, I’d always thought the angel looked sort of evil and was probably in cahoots with Zeb and Brother Tentacles. But now I wonder if the angel has his sword raised to smite these evildoers. Perhaps he serves a purely symbolic function.

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The angel is an "avenging angel" with a sword of justice...but of course, it is all twisted because it is meant to avenge the bad guy.

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Perhaps we're both right. It's a perversion of the real Eden-denying angel; an anti-angel counterpart from hell, if you will. Since it's pictured alongside the two no-goodniks, we can only assume that it's somewhat in league with them. Or perhaps it's the "good" cherubim, but it's the Windrows way of mocking all things righteous by including such a cherished symbol of good with the likes of them. As if anything can be corrupted. 

Maybe the angel represents the book's talisman, the Biblical Urim and Thummim.  Any other contemporary thoughts on the matter or symbolic interpretations?