Verse 5
The Lord promised to be Jerusalem’s defense instead of a physical wall and to be the glory in her in contrast to any human glory. Such a promise would have been a great encouragement to the returnees from captivity. Yahweh Himself (emphatic in the Hebrew text) would provide security by His protection and presence (cf. Zechariah 1:16; Psalms 24:7-10). Though God did protect the returnees, His promise has not yet found fulfillment. The wall of fire that Yahweh would be recalls the pillar of cloud and fire by which God visualized His protecting presence at various times throughout her history (Exodus 13:21-22; Exodus 14:19-20; Exodus 40:34; Isaiah 4:5-6).
"This anticipates the Lord’s personal presence through the Messiah in his kingdom on earth (cf. Zechariah 2:11-12; Zechariah 14:9; Isaiah 60:19; Ezekiel 43:1-5; Ezekiel 48:35). So then the literal kingdom will be very spiritual." [Note: Barker, p. 617. For a defense of the spirituality of the physical, earthly kingdom of Messiah, see Feinberg, God Remembers, p. 45.]
"At a time when others such as Nehemiah were interested in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and excluding from the community those who had divorced their wives and married young foreign girls (Ezra 10:2-3), Zechariah sees a vision of the future Jerusalem as a broad, spreading metropolis with the wall of God’s presence around her and the glory of his presence within her." [Note: Smith, p. 197.]
Both the second and third visions guarantee the future safety of Jerusalem. Since Jerusalem has not been safe for millennia, it seems reasonable to expect a fulfillment in messianic times.
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