When Paul speaks of the elect he means definite individuals. He sees before his eyes the image of the disciples who followed the Lord: they are types and models, the central light falls on them. That this light falls from them on to others, is brought by them to others, is a new truth not excluded but included in the first. At first Peter is intended, or John, and not Zebedee, though he stands near the circle of light. The number itself is the Son’s secret. It could be that the Father means “many” and that, to speak in a human way, he allows himself to be surprised by the work of the Son who demands “all”. Little Thérèse “chose all” when she was offered a basketful of things to choose from. She chose not only what was beautiful but also the unattractive. Thérèse is only imitating what is the deepest in the attitude of the Son of Man: he was the first “to choose all”, even the last human being in the basket of creation, perhaps unrecognizable because of sin, but beautiful because the Father created him.
Adrienne von Speyr - Unpublished, quoted in preface to The Victory of Love
The second half of this is a wonderful description of Jesus's desire that all be saved (1 Tim 2:4), with an interesting trinitarian angle. As for the first half, I'll be interested to see whether von Speyr develops this thinking about election later in the book or perhaps elsewhere in her writings.