In this message we come to chapter two of Zechariah, which is a very mysterious chapter.
In this chapter Zechariah saw a vision of a Man with a measuring line in His hand. "I lifted up my eyes and I saw, and behold, there was a Man, and in His hand was a measuring line. And I said, Where are you going? And He said to me, To measure Jerusalem; to see how great its breadth is and how great its length is" (vv. 1-2).
This Man is Christ in His humanity as the Angel of Jehovah, the One speaking with Zechariah (vv. 1a, 2-3a; cf. Ezek. 40:3; Zech. 1:9-11).
The measuring line (2:1b) signifies measuring in order to possess. For example, when we buy land or cloth, we may first measure its length and width. After we measure the land or the cloth, we then proceed to possess it.
The Man with the measuring line intended to measure Jerusalem for the purpose that Jehovah may repossess it (Zech. 2:2, 4b). Jerusalem was given up by God for the seventy years of captivity. After the captivity, God came back to Jerusalem to measure it for His possession. This measuring is not only to know the size but also to know the condition and the situation. The measuring was done by a Man, not by an angel. An angel is unqualified to measure anything human, because he does not have the human nature. Only Jesus, who has both the divine nature and the human nature, is qualified to measure Jerusalem.
Whereas the temple is the sign of God's house, the city of Jerusalem is a sign of God's kingdom for His administration. The city of Jerusalem was measured and was found to be without limit (v. 4). This indicates that the size of God's kingdom is the size of God Himself. Therefore, the measuring has revealed two important matters: that God's kingdom is unlimited and that God Himself is the size of His kingdom.