Zechariah 2:4
And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:
The verse belongs to a most encouraging series of visions regarding God's work in the earth, given in parables and symbols in the first six chapters of Zechariah just two months after Haggai's last recorded message. It came at a time of great uncertainty and anxiety when the permission to rebuild seemed about to be withdrawn and the future looked very dark, to sustain and cheer God's people by revealing His infinite compassion and love. It came with good and comfortable words having special meaning for those advancing in the name of the God of Israel.
It follows an introductory view of the nations holding universal dominion in the earth and a plea for mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah after seventy years of indignation. In answer the Lord declares that He is jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great jealousy, is greatly displeased with the careless nations who increased the affliction, has returned to Jerusalem with mercy so that His house shall be built there and a measuring line stretched over it, and His cities shall spread abroad through prosperity as He comforts Zion and chooses Jerusalem. In the scene during Jerusalem's rebuilding, a heavenly messenger is told to run and speak to a young man who is measuring the city.
Its plain promise is that Jerusalem shall be inhabited as unwalled settlements, for its people and livestock shall become so numerous that it cannot be enclosed but must extend beyond the limits of a walled city. The measuring of the city signifies God's pledge to rebuild Jerusalem and to give comfort and strength to His afflicted people through His merciful work. It is God's answer to intercession for His afflicted people, showing that in pity He has come to their relief and made provision for them.
Jerusalem here represents God's church, and the promise points to what God would do for His people through the coming Messiah to bring relief and provide protection and growth, assuring them that He would restore them and fulfill His covenant promises. The vision assures surrounding protective care like a wall of fire and the dwelling of His presence as glory among them, to be revealed to all the earth. It belongs to God's command for Jerusalem to be rebuilt, and that promised merciful work greatly alarms Satan and his army, so Satan resists it by standing before the angel and pointing to the people's defects of character and disregard of God's commandments. The command to run and speak to the young man applies to young people in the Advent movement, who are given an important part in the closing events of earth's history.