Zechariah 3:8

Evidently Zechariah also saw in his vision other priests, Joshua’s friends, sitting in front of him. The Lord continued to address Joshua, identifying him as the high priest. He called the friends sitting in front of Joshua men who were symbols (Heb. mopheth, tokens of future events, prophetic signs; cf. Isaiah 8:18). It was not just Joshua individually who represented Israel, but the other priests also represented the priesthood within Israel.

"The miracle, which is to be seen in Joshua and his priests, consists . . . in the fact that the priesthood of Israel is laden with guilt, but by the grace of God it has been absolved, and accepted by God again, as the deliverance from exile shows, and Joshua and his priests are therefore brands plucked by the omnipotence of grace from the fire of merited judgment. This miracle of grace which has been wrought for them, points beyond itself to an incomparably greater and better act of the sin-absolving grace of God, which is still in the future." [Note: C. F. Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets, 2:259.]

The Lord also said that He planned to bring into the picture His Servant, the Branch. This is a double title of Messiah (cf. Zechariah 6:12; Psalms 132:17; Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 53:2; Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 33:15). As Yahweh’s servant (Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 49:3; Isaiah 49:5; Isaiah 52:13; Isaiah 53:11; Ezekiel 34:23-24), Messiah would come into the world to do His Father’s will, including redeeming, cleansing, and restoring Israel to God’s intended place for her.

"As Branch, the Messiah is represented in the OT in four different aspects of his character (King, Servant, Man, and God). These aspects are developed in the NT in the four Gospels: (1) in Matthew as the Branch of David, i.e., as the Davidic messianic King (Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 33:15); (2) in Mark as the Lord’s Servant, the Branch (Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 49:6; Isaiah 50:10; Isaiah 52:13; Ezekiel 34:23-24; Zechariah 3:8); (3) in Luke as the Man whose name is the Branch (Zechariah 6:12); and (4) in John as the Branch of the Lord (Isaiah 4:2)." [Note: Barker, p. 626. See also Feinberg, God Remembers, p. 64.]