so the third vision of the man with the measuring line is an amplification and realistic unfolding of the other " comfortable words " in the second part of the consoling message in reference to the future of the city, and the land, and the people, when Jehovah, in the Person of Messiah, shall " return to Jerusalem with mercies."
The Vision
Lifting up his eyes, the prophet sees a man with a measuring line in his hand, and on asking, " Whither goest thou? " the answer is, " To measure Jerusalem, to see what (or how great ) is the breadth thereof and what (or how great) is the length thereof." While " the man " is thus actually engaged, the interpreting angel " goes out," or forward, from the prophet by whose side he had been standing, evidently in the direction of the measuring which was going on, to inquire the meaning of the symbolism, so as to communicate it to the prophet; but is met on the way by " another angel," evidently sent forth by " the man " with the measuring line, who commands him to run and tell " this young man " from whose side he had just come, saying, " Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns (or villages ) without walls, by reason of the multitude of men and cattle therein. For I, saith Jehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire, and will be the glory in the midst of her."
The Interpretation
In the above summary we have already indicated the character of the dramatis personce in this prophetic vision, but it is necessary also to explain it in detail. First, who is " the man " with the measuring line?
Some interpreters have confused him with the inter preting angel, though in the text itself this angel is clearly distinguished from " the man," since he does not " go out " till the latter had already gone to measure Jerusalem. Others, again, have regarded this " man " as " a mere figure in the vision ";
