Zechariah 9:11

"As for thee also, because of the blood of thy covenant I have set free thy prisoners from the pit wherein is no water."

"The blood of thy covenant ..." This is one of the most beautiful passages in the Old Testament. Whatever the "blood of thy covenant" under the law of Moses was, Jesus Christ our Lord told the faithful and righteous remnant of Israel in the city of Jerusalem (his holy apostles), "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28). This sheds ample light on this verse. It is a prophecy of the forgiveness of sins under the New Covenant.

"I have set free thy prisoners ..." The freeing of prisoners was an oft-repeated Old Testament promise with reference to the times of the Messiah. In the first sermon Jesus ever preached (Luke 4:18), he mentioned freeing the captives.

"From the pit wherein is no water ..." This is a metaphor of sin; and it is from that "pit" that Jesus came to deliver mankind. For ages, men have discerned this true meaning of the passage. Adam Clarke called the captives here, "those who were under the arrest of God's judgments, the human race fast bound in sin and misery."[30] This is undoubtedly accurate. The aptness of this reference to sin is seen in the fact that, "Delivery from a pit in which there was no drinking water was life from death."[31]