Zechariah 3

1-10 Fourth Vision: Joshua and Satan

1-2 Joshua, the high priest, stands before an angel of the LORD with Satan accusing him, and the LORD rebuking Satan, because Joshua is a “brand plucked from the fire.” This Joshua is mentioned in both Haggai 1:1 as one of the recipients of Haggai’s message and Ezra 10:18, as one of the priests who had married a foreign wife. In this case, he represents Jerusalem and the sins they have committed.

3-5 The angel orders that Joshua’s filthy clothes (of guilt) be removed and replaced with “festal” clothes and a clean turban. I can’t read this without remembering Psalm 51:7, where David pleads that he will be made “whiter than snow,” or even Galatians 3:27:

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.:

6-7 The angel assures Joshua that if he is obedient, he will rule the house of the LORD; he will have “right of access.”

8-10 The LORD will bring his servant the Branch, and he will engrave a seven-facet stone and will remove the land’s guilt in one day, and you and your colleagues will sit under your vines and fig trees (be at peace). Clearly, a prophecy of Christ. Other translations call the facets “eyes,” referring to the all-seeing eyes of God. From John Wesley’s explanatory notes:

Upon one stone - On that stone are seven eyes, probably so placed, that they may look many ways; so it was a more exact emblem of Christ, and of his perfect knowledge and wisdom.