The Nth Rejection

So I've been submitting work to a magazine for the last couple of years every couple of months or so. I have always after a month got a rejection from the assistant editor with a bit of feedback as to why they didn't want to buy it.

This time, the rejection time took nearly 2 months, so I was very hopeful. Perhaps too hopeful.

Well, I got a rejection, but this time it was from the editor and the following feedback:

"I found the sense of detail vivid, but the opening felt to me predominately detail and didn't give me as acute a sense of character as I needed."

Now, I'm not sure how the rejection system works, but does it mean something that it came from the editor this time and not the assistant like other times? And the fact it took longer... do you think it made a second stage or anything?

Or am I just hoping again....