Ezekiel 12:4
Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity. Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity.
Ezekiel was commanded to perform a dramatized sign in which he acted out moving away and going into captivity before the eyes of the people. He was to bring his belongings out by day in their sight as goods prepared for removal, and then to go forth himself at evening in their sight in the manner of those departing into captivity. The action was a realistic miniature of hasty flight and captivity, staged publicly to make the coming captivity vivid to those watching. To carry out such a public enactment of shame and exile was not a pleasant task. The verse stands within searching moral instruction running through Ezekiel to chapter 27, and belongs with predictions of the last days.