This haftarah opens with a call for Zion to sing and rejoice, since God is coming to dwell among the people, and many nations will join themselves to God on that day, before turning to a vision of Joshua the high priest standing before an angel while Satan stands ready to accuse him, dressed in filthy garments symbolizing the guilt of the returned exiles. The angel rebukes the accuser and orders Joshua's filthy garments removed and replaced with clean, festive robes and a clean turban, a symbolic cleansing of the priesthood itself.
Zechariah then sees a golden lampstand with seven lamps, flanked by two olive trees that continually supply it with oil through golden pipes, without any human hand needing to refill it, and asks the angel what this vision means.
The haftarah closes with the angel's answer to Zerubbabel specifically, that the task before him will be accomplished not by military might nor by human power but by God's own spirit, and that whatever mountain of obstacle stands in his way will become level ground, closing a vision of priestly restoration and prophetic lampstand imagery with a direct word of encouragement to the political leader charged with rebuilding.
The accuser standing ready to condemn Joshua the high priest before being rebuked gives the vision its own dramatic tension, a courtroom like scene resolved not through argument but through the angel's direct authority to overrule the accusation and order the priest's garments replaced.