And He showed me Joshua the High Priest. He saw prophetically how Joshua was standing before the angel of Hashem, who was judging him for his deeds, while Satan, the accuser, was standing at his right hand to accuse him. For the one arguing for guilt stands to the left of the judging angel, which is to the right of Joshua, who stands facing him. It is evident here that Joshua was subject to two kinds of judgment. The first concerned Joshua himself, against whom a certain accusation had been raised. This accusation had already been made when he was cast into the fiery furnace—an event that had occurred long before—when he was judged to determine whether he was worthy of having a miracle performed for him through the angel. At that time, Satan accused him, and then:

And Hashem said. He heard Hashem, the Master of compassion, tell Satan that He would rebuke him on two grounds: (1) “Hashem rebuke you, Satan”—He would rebuke him as Hashem, the Master of compassion, who inclines the judgment of His creatures toward acquittal; (2) “Hashem rebuke you” because He is “the One who chooses Jerusalem.” On this account, He would save the High Priest whose ancestors had ministered in the Temple. He thereby rendered the judgment that Joshua was worthy of being miraculously saved. Concerning this He says, “Is this not a firebrand rescued from the fire?” That is, although Joshua was not worthy of a miracle like that performed for Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, over whom the fire had no power at all, not even over their garments—whereas Joshua’s garments were burned, so that he was a firebrand upon which the fire had taken some hold—he was nevertheless rescued from the fire, which did not take hold of his body even though it burned his garments.

And Joshua. He further saw that Joshua was subject to a second judgment: whether he should serve as High Priest. Our Sages explained that this was because his sons had married foreign women. Ibn Ezra’s objection—that this occurred after Joshua’s death—is not a difficulty, for when Nehemiah relates that some of the descendants of Eliashib, who was descended from Joshua, were found to have married foreign women, it means that they had already married them many years earlier, in accordance with the tradition of our Sages. Joshua was therefore clothed in filthy garments. Since the judgment concerned his priestly garments, the vision depicts him as wearing, in place of the priestly garments, garments that represented his sins. This image was also drawn from what had actually occurred when his garments were burned, for his garments were filthy and therefore unworthy of being miraculously preserved.

And he answered and said to those standing before him. The angel instructed the attendants under his authority, who were appointed to remove transgression and atone for sin, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” That is, Joshua would not bear punishment for the sins of his sons. It is also possible that his sons divorced their foreign wives. The angel then explained the meaning of the image to him: “See, I have removed your iniquity from you.” This refers to the sins that rested upon him externally through his sons, resembling garments worn externally; these He removed. “And you shall be clothed in clean garments,” meaning that you shall be clothed in merits in their place.

And I said. When the prophet saw that Joshua’s transgressions had been removed, he interceded on his behalf and said, “Let them place a pure turban upon his head,” meaning that he should be restored to the rank of High Priest and wear the turban that signifies the High Priesthood. The prophet’s request was accepted: “And they placed the turban upon his head, and they also clothed him in garments,” namely, the remaining garments of the High Priest.

And the angel of Hashem admonished him. Then, as he clothed him in the garments of the High Priest, the angel solemnly warned him in the name of Hashem:

If you walk in My ways. This means that he must conduct himself according to the attributes of Hashem—just as He is compassionate and gracious—as our Sages interpreted the verse, “And you shall walk in His ways.” And if you keep My charge refers to observing Hashem’s Torah and commandments. Then you shall also judge My House: he shall oversee the Temple service and the laws of the offerings. And you shall also guard My courtyards: he shall supervise the courtyards of the Temple and every detail of its proper maintenance. Then I promise you, “I will grant you passage among these who stand here.” That is, although the priests of the present age are human beings dwelling in houses of clay, whose rank is lower than that of the angels, in the future a shoot will emerge from you whose descendants will minister in the Third Temple. They will be sanctified like angels and will walk during their lifetimes among the eternal angels who stand before Hashem. In addition to being a personal prophecy concerning Joshua, as explained above, this was also a general prophecy concerning the future of his descendants. In this sense, he saw “Joshua,” meaning his descendants, who were called by his name. At times they would stand in judgment, and Satan would accuse them and demand that they be consumed by fire. This occurred during the persecution under Antiochus, who sought to annihilate Hashem’s priests. But Hashem rebuked Satan, and they became like a firebrand rescued from the fire, as in the days of the Hasmoneans, when they were miraculously saved through Hashem’s Providence. An accusation was also raised against their priesthood, but Hashem forgave their sin and clothed them in fine garments. Abarbanel explains more specifically that the filthy garments allude to the Hasmonean dynasty, whose members wore royal garments, which were inappropriate for a High Priest serving in the Sanctuary of Hashem. Hashem removed these garments from them in the days of Herod, when royal pride and haughtiness departed from them. This was symbolized by the pure turban placed upon their heads, for the priestly turban atones for haughtiness: they would no longer wear the royal crown, but only the turban of the priesthood. He then promised Joshua that, in the future, He would grant him descendants who would walk among the angels in the eternal Temple.

Hear now, Joshua. He now explained to him when he would have descendants who would walk among the eternal beings who stand before Hashem: this would occur in the days of the Messiah. He commanded that this future promise be heard by him and his companions who sat before him, namely, the Torah scholars who were his disciples, for they are men of wonders and worthy of prophecy. Our Sages explained that his companions were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. For behold, I am bringing My servant, the Branch. That is, at the End of Days I will bring the Messiah-King. He is called “the Branch” to indicate that the shoot from the trunk of Jesse has now been cut off and lies hidden within the earth. Yet he is like a seed concealed in the depths of the soil, which at its appointed time will sprout and be revealed, and from beneath him growth will emerge. This is also alluded to by the name Zerubbabel, meaning “sown in Babylon”: he resembled a seed sown in the earth from which the Branch will sprout when the time of redemption arrives.

For behold, the stone. When they laid the foundation of the Temple under Zerubbabel and prepared the chief stone—that is, the cornerstone placed first in the building’s foundation—Zerubbabel entrusted the stone to Joshua so that he, as priest of God Most High, would set it into the foundation. Joshua engraved upon the stone the image of seven eyes. This signified that the seven eyes of Hashem that roam throughout the earth—the influence of the seven planets through which Hashem directs the orderly course of nature established from the days of Creation, governs His world, and watches over it—would now be engraved upon this stone, meaning upon the Temple that they were building. From then onward, Hashem’s Providence would operate through the Temple, where He would dwell and from which He would watch over His world. These seven eyes, which exercise Providence through the seven planets, draw their influence from seven higher and more exalted eyes, one level above another, extending to the seven constructive sefirot, from which influence and Providence descend through the lower eyes, namely, the seven planets. By engraving seven eyes upon this stone, Joshua also alluded to drawing toward it the eyes of Providence that stand above. It is known that the seven supernal eyes impart their influence to the well-known chief stone, which represents the attribute of Malkhut and is “the stone that the builders rejected.” Therefore, Scripture says, “Upon one stone are seven eyes.” Hashem told him that the seven eyes Joshua had engraved upon the foundation stone were the work of human hands and would not endure, for in the present age the lower eyes—the stars and the celestial order—hold sway. But when I bring My servant, the Branch, then “behold, I will engrave its engraving.” I Myself will then engrave this seal and the image of the eyes, as will be explained in the vision he saw afterward. “And I will remove the iniquity of that land”—for at that time they will no longer sin, and I will forgive their previous iniquities. Then:

On that day you shall invite. When the foundation was laid, they brought branches of grapevines and fig trees and fashioned them into shelters, beneath which the builders and those laying the foundation stood in honor of the occasion, assembled there as a festive multitude. He says that then each man shall invite his neighbor beneath the vine—when the eyes are engraved by Hashem, for only then will there be peace in the land, not now, as he will explain shortly.