Therefore thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies,.... Having returned the people of the Jews from their captivity to Jerusalem, in which he had shown abundant mercy to them:my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts; meaning the temple where he dwelt and was worshipped; the foundation of which had been laid two months before this prophecy was delivered, Hag 2:18 and which should be raised up and finished, notwithstanding all the opposition of the enemy, and the discouragements of the people:and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem; to measure with it, and build by it, the wall, streets, and houses of Jerusalem.
The meaning is, that not only the temple should be built, but the city likewise, and that in great order, and with great exactness and symmetry; see Zec 2:1.