In Zechariah 6:5, the angel explains the four chariots as “the four spirits of heaven” going out from standing before the Lord of all the earth. They are sent out to patrol the earth in Zechariah 6:7. The vision presents them as agents dispatched by the Lord.
In Zechariah 6:4–5, the prophet asks the interpreting angel what the chariots in his vision mean. These verses sit inside Zechariah’s night-vision sequence (Zechariah 1–6), where the prophet repeatedly sees symbolic scenes and then asks an angel for their meaning (compare Zechariah 1:9).
Zechariah does not treat the vision as self-explanatory. He asks the interpreting angel what the chariots mean, and the angel gives a direct explanation (explicit in verse 4–5). The angel identifies the chariots with “the four winds of the sky/heavens” (explicit).
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Zechariah 6:5, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
5The angel answered me, These are the four winds of the sky, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.