3 He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored animal, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.
into a wilderness – John must go into the wilderness to see the harlot. The saints are now “in the wilderness,” are described in Rev 12:14. New Jerusalem is in the wilderness. And only the saints can understand who the harlot is, the world remains deceived, as we read in Rev 13:8.
a scarlet beast – this is the beast from Rev 13:1-2, the description is the same. Scarlet represents sin, as in Isa 1:18. In Rome, on the ceiling of the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls are the portraits of 109 Popes, all in scarlet. The Pope’s throne room, including its walls, ceiling and floor are also scarlet.