Ezekiel 17:23
In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
The tender twig cropped off from the top of the highest branch of the highest cedar and planted by God Himself on the high mountain of Israel is Christ as the Branch, the plant of the Lord's own setting. Growing into a goodly cedar that brings forth boughs and bears fruit, He gives dwelling and shelter to all who come under Him. To sit under His shadow brings great delight, and His fruit is sweet to the taste. His every act was acceptable to the Father, who loved Him in His humiliation and loved Him most when the penalty for transgression of the law fell upon Him.
The verse also shows God's purpose from the beginning and desire that His people, the captive Israelites in Babylon, become a praise in the earth for the glory of His name, fulfilled through a remnant restored from exile. The planting on the high mountain of Israel means the return to their own land of those exiles who during the long years of captivity chose to listen and learn and found salvation in the midst of affliction and were numbered among those who should return. The highest branch planted means those captives who listened to heavenly pleading and repented with full purpose of heart, whose planting is their return to Jerusalem as a remnant with affliction made a means of salvation.
Every captive Israelite in Babylon was given opportunity to form part of this remnant, first under the decree of Cyrus and afterward through continued pleadings, but the vast number who remained in exile refused the invitation.