5 Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” 6 And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” 7 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening.

9 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11 He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”

Zechariah 5:5-11 (ESV)

The gist

This vision basically describes the removal of Israel’s sin from the land. As Dr. Thomas L. Constable notes, ”It has a parallel with Zechariah 3:4 – “The removal of Wickedness, like the removal of Joshua’s filthy garments (3:4), was an act of free grace on the part of the covenant-keeping (hasid) God.”

A few explanations

• “The ephah [basket] was the largest dry measure among the Hebrews, and its use here suggests that Israel’s sins had accumulated greatly in Zechariah’s day.” (Scofield reference Bible)
• The leaden cover would have been heavier than the typical cover – exceedingly heavy to keep her in
• Stork-women are faithful servants of the Lord’s will.
• Storks are fabled to have great carrying ability considering their large wings
• Shinar was in Babylon, which has future meaning in Bible prophecy 

Two-fold vision

These two visions (yesterday’s v 1-4 and today’s v 5-11) fit together. PlanoBibleChapel.org: “The preceding vision described the future removal of individual sinners from the land through divine judgment, and this one pictures the eventual removal of all wickedness from the future “holy land” (2:12; cf. 3:9).”

Hitting home

It seems this is a reminder for us that God hates sin. He takes away the iniquity of His chosen people. We are His chosen people. What is not mentioned in this passage is what it cost the Father to give His one and only Son.