And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”
Zechariah sees this vision in a wrecked city, where the walls were down and the temple foundations were only just laid. Into that ruin an angel runs with a promise of safety outside and glory inside — and it is God Himself, not a wall of stone.
The setting: a ruin measured for greatness
The measuring line of chapter 2 runs over a city with almost nothing left to measure:
H. L. RossierAt the time of this vision, the city of Jerusalem lay in ruins and its walls were torn down. Only the foundations of the temple had been laid. Yet the angel said: "I'm going to measure Jerusalem"! ... The future Jerusalem will reach far beyond anything it has ever been. So it will be much larger than the city the returned exiles rebuilt. It will overflow with people and cattle dwelling in it. ... This future city is not the city of Nehemiah, nor the Jerusalem that rejected its Messiah and King.
Why the walls become unnecessary
Verse 4 promises a city that lives without walls. Verse 5 explains why that is safe: a better defender takes their place.
L. M. GrantWalls will be unnecessary, for the Lord Himself will be a wall of fire encircling the city as well as being "the glory in her midst." This will be true when Israel is finally broken down in repentance and faith, and receives the Messiah they had despised and rejected. Then they will depend in simple, unquestioning faith on their blessed Redeemer. He has proved faithful and cannot fail them. Their walls, gates and bars will go (Ezek. 38:10-11): the Lord alone will defend them.
Fire outside, glory inside — never one without the other
The verse joins two promises. God's nearness blesses His people, and the same nearness shields them.
Edward DennettBut the secret of it all is found in the next verse. The Lord Himself will be a wall of fire all around her. That is a sure protection from her foes. He will also be the glory in the midst of her. It is always so. The Lord's presence has always been the source of all blessing for His earthly people. In the same way, His presence is now among those who are gathered to His name. His presence is the source of blessing, and it is also protection. The wall of fire and the glory always go together (compare Exodus 14:24-25; Isaiah 4:5).
Nothing in history has matched this
Commentators are agreed that the words outrun anything Jerusalem has yet known. The returned exiles lived under one foreign master after another; the promise describes the opposite.
William KellyNothing so far has met the terms of this prophecy at all. We look on to the day when the crowds who live in her will break all bounds. Instead of being subjects of Persian or Greek or Roman masters, they will have Jehovah Himself as their fortress and wall of defence.
And it will not stop at the city:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinGlory and defence were not combined in the restored Jerusalem after the captivity. It is altogether future. What a glory it will be when every eye sees Him! His visible glory will be set up in the land once more. From there the knowledge of it will spread over the earth till it covers all, as the waters cover the deep (Habakkuk 2:14).
The glory is a Person
"The glory in her midst" is not only a shining cloud like the one that filled the first temple. Writers connect it with the coming of Christ Himself.
An Outline of Sound WordsThen it will not simply be, as in the first temple, the presence of the glory, but the Lord Himself with them in Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
That day is also the day Israel recognises Him, like the disciple Thomas:
H J VineMessiah will be known by her then. She will have returned to Him. Like Thomas, they will own Him as their Lord and their God when they see Him.
Comfort for the small and the young
The message runs to "this young man," and it lands on a small, weak community:
George DavisonNehemiah did build the wall later, but that wall could be broken down, and in the end it was broken down again. God in all His glory, and in all His majesty, is committed to its protection. In Nehemiah chapter 11 we see that the people had to cast lots, so that one in every ten should go and live in Jerusalem. They were few and they were feeble. Yet God said in effect, I will take care of you. ... Always remember that the outer walls were there to preserve the glory of God inside.
Summary
- Ruin measured. God gives this promise to a city with its walls torn down. The Jerusalem He measures out is far larger than anything the exiles rebuilt.
- Walls replaced. Gates and bars go, because the Lord alone becomes the defence. Safety rests on His faithfulness, not on stone.
- Fire and glory together. Protection outside and glory inside are one gift. Both are His presence, and you never get one without the other.
- Still ahead. Nothing since the captivity has matched these terms. The fulfilment waits for the day His glory is seen in the land and its knowledge fills the earth.
- A Person. The glory in her midst is the Lord Himself with them, and His people will own Him at last, as Thomas did when he saw Him.