Joshua the high priest typifies Christ as the High Priest sent by God to His people (Heb. 3:1; 4:14-15; 7:26). Joshua also represents and signifies Israel as a nation of priests (Exo. 19:6; Zech. 8:20-23; Isa. 2:2-4a).

Joshua was standing before the Angel of Jehovah to be perfected, established, and strengthened in the priesthood (vv. 1-10). The Angel of Jehovah would do this by measuring Joshua. Christ’s care for Joshua in this chapter is a continuation of His measuring in Zech. 2:1-2.

Or, the accuser, the adversary. See note Matt. 4:10^1a and note Rev. 12:10². As the adversary, Satan’s intention was to belittle Joshua in front of his fellows (v. 8) and to frustrate the rebuilding of God’s temple.

In vv. 1-2 there are three parties: Joshua, the Angel of Jehovah, and Satan. This is a repetition of the scene in the garden of Eden, where God put the man He had created in front of the tree of life, denoting God, and the tree of knowledge, denoting Satan (Gen. 2:8-9).

In type, garments signify one’s conduct as one’s expression (Isa. 64:6; Rev. 19:8). That Joshua the high priest was clothed with filthy garments indicates that our conduct may still be unclean because we still live in the flesh, which is altogether filthy (Rom. 7:18; 2 Cor. 7:1). Joshua’s filthy garments were the basis of Satan’s accusation.

The perfection of Christ as the Angel of Jehovah was extended to Joshua by the removing of the filthy garments from him, thus making his iniquity pass from him. Joshua was also clothed with stately robes, with garments befitting his office and status as high priest. These garments signify the expression of Christ in His divine glory and His human beauty (Exo. 28:2 and notes).

Following some ancient versions; the Hebrew text reads, I.

The clean turban signifies that Joshua had been fully cleansed and was now clean in the presence of Christ as the Angel of Jehovah.

This refers to Zerubbabel, who is a type of Christ as the Servant of Jehovah, the Shoot of David (Jer. 23:5), in His humanity and royal faithfulness (Zech. 6:12). Although he was not a king but was a governor in the position of a king (Hag. 1:1), Zerubbabel was nevertheless a descendant, a shoot, of the royal family of David. As such, he typifies Christ.

This stone (Zerubbabel) set before Joshua also typifies Christ as the stone for God’s building (Psa. 118:22; Isa. 28:16; Matt. 21:42; 1 Pet. 2:4). Zerubbabel was a stone set before Joshua to carry out God’s economy.

The seven eyes of the stone (Christ) are the seven eyes of Jehovah and the seven eyes of the Lamb, Christ, which are the seven Spirits of God, the sevenfold intensified Spirit (4:10; Rev. 5:6). See note Zech. 4:10¹.

Jehovah’s engraving of the stone indicates that God will work on Christ as the stone for the accomplishing of God’s redemption, salvation, and building. To engrave is to cut. When Christ was dying on the cross, He was engraved, cut, by God.

This indicates that the Christ on whom God has worked will remove the sin of the land of Israel in one day, the day of His crucifixion (1 Pet. 2:24). Through His death on the cross, Christ, the Lamb of God, took away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

After our sin has been taken away (v. 9) and our situation with God has been appeased, there is peace between us and God, and we can come together to enjoy Christ as the vine (John 15:1, 5), the tree of life (see note Gen. 2:9^2a, note Rev. 22:2^1b and note Rev. 22:2^2c), and as the fig tree, full of the fruit of life (Judg. 9:10-11). Christ came to accomplish redemption, bearing the Spirit and being cut by God on the cross (see note Zech. 3:9^2b and note Zech. 3:9³). This issued in our enjoyment of Him as the vine and as the fig tree. The measuring carried out by Christ as the Angel of Jehovah results in such a wonderful situation.