Zechariah 6:12

"And speak unto him, saying, Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build the temple of Jehovah."

"Behold the man ..." Strangely, these very words were used by the Gentile governor when Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate (John 19:5). A little later, he added, "Behold your king!"

"The man whose name is the Branch ..." We have already noted that this was a technical word fully understood among the Jews as referring to the promised Messiah; and such an action as this made it impossible to take the action any other way except as a symbolical prophecy of the coming Messiah, revealing the extremely important truth that the Messiah would combine in himself the offices of both the kingship and the high priesthood.

"He shall grow up out of his place ..." is suggestive of Isaiah 53, where the humility and humanity of Jesus are prophetically outlined.

"He shall build the temple of Jehovah ..." As Keil forcefully stated it:

"That these words do not refer to the building of the earthly temple of stone and wood, is so obvious, that even Koehler has given up this view here, and understands the words as relating to the spiritual temple."[23]

Note that the promise here is not that of "completing" the earthly temple, which Zerubbabel was already in the process of doing, but that of "Building the Temple." There is no way that the name of Zerubbabel could ever have fitted into this passage. How blind are those who vainly suppose that it did! Of course, two different temples are of necessity in view.