Genesis 32:2

This is God's host Or army; so the angels are justly called, because of their great number, their excellent order, their mighty power, and the service they perform for God and his church, for the protection of which they are sent. A good man may see by faith what Jacob saw with his bodily eyes. To preserve the remembrance of this favour Jacob named the place Mahanaim, two hosts, or two camps. Probably they appeared to him in two hosts, one on either side, or one in the front and the other in the rear, to protect him from Laban behind and Esau before, and be a complete guard: or Jacob's family made one army, representing the church militant and itinerant on earth, and the angels another army, representing the church triumphant, and at rest in heaven.