The destiny of the great human image is to be crushed by a stone cut out without hands, at its appearing (vv. 34-35a, 44b-45; 7:13-14). This stone cut without hands is Christ.
As the stone that will crush the entire human government of mankind, Christ was not cut out with human hands (as indicated by "without hands" in 2:34, 45); He was cut by God through His crucifixion and resurrection. Through His crucifixion He was cut by being put to death (Acts 2:23), and in His resurrection He was cut out to be, first, the cornerstone for the building up of the church and the crushing stone to destroy the totality of human government (Acts 2:24; Matt. 21:42, 44b).
At His appearing as the stone cut out not by human hands, Christ will crush the great image from the toes to the head. This means that He will strike the ten kings with Antichrist. Revelation 19 speaks of the war between Christ and Antichrist. With Christ there will be His newly-married bride, composed of the overcomers, and with Antichrist there will be the ten kings with their armies. This war will be a fighting of the earth against the heavens, of man against God. Christ will defeat and destroy Antichrist and the ten kings.
According to Daniel 2, this will entail the crushing of the entire human image from the toes to the head. Verses 34 and 35a say, "A stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the image at its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at once, and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found." This signifies the complete destruction of all human government from Nimrod to Antichrist. Human government will therefore be terminated by Christ at His appearing as the God-cut stone.
The Bible reveals that Christ is a stone in three aspects. First, to the believers Christ is the foundation stone in whom they trust. Concerning this aspect of Christ as a stone, Isaiah 28:16 says, "Behold, I lay a stone in Zion as a foundation, / A tested stone, / A precious cornerstone as a foundation firmly established." Second, to the unbelieving Jews Christ is the stumbling stone (Isa. 8:14; Rom. 9:33). Regarding this aspect, Matthew 21:44a says, "He who falls on this stone shall be broken to pieces." Third, to the nations Christ will be the smiting stone. "On whomever it falls, it shall crush him to powder and scatter him like chaff" (Matt. 21:44b). Daniel 2 reveals Christ as the smiting stone crushing the great human image and causing it to become like chaff carried away by the wind.
When Christ comes as the smiting stone, He will not come alone. Rather, He will come with His bride. By that time Christ will have already gained the church, and He will have married His bride, as described in Revelation 19. After His wedding He will come both as the smiting stone and as the One who will tread the winepress (Rev. 19:15; 14:19-20; Isa. 63:2-3). Antichrist will gather a vast number of evil, rebellious human beings around Jerusalem, thus preparing the "grapes" to be trodden in the "winepress" by Christ. His coming will be a great surprise, for these rebellious ones will believe neither in Christ nor in God but only in themselves. Antichrist will even go so far as to say that he is God (2 Thes. 2:4; Dan. 11:36), and for his enjoyment will set up his tent between the good land and the Mediterranean Sea (v. 45). Then Christ as the God-cut stone will come with His bride to strike the toes of the image, destroying it from the toes to the head. In this way, human government will be crushed and terminated.