In their sight thou shalt be carried out upon men’s shoulders, thou shalt be carried out in the dark: thou shalt cover thy face, and shalt not see the ground: for I have set thee for a sign of things to come to the house of Israel.

“And I did so as I was commanded,.... Though it might seem ridiculous in the sight of men, and he be bantered and despised for it; yet, it being the will of God, he was obedient to it; as it becomes the servants of the Lord to be with all readiness and cheerfulness; even in things for which they may be laughed at by others: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity; brought his goods out of his house, in order to be had to another place, as a type of the captivity of his countrymen the Jews: and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; not with an iron instrument, with which walls are dug; but with his hand, he having no such instrument with him, and being in haste, and also that it might be done without noise; denoting the suddenness of Zedekiah's flight, and the haste he was in; not having time and leisure to take proper instruments with him, he and his men pulled out the stones of the wall with their own hands, and silently made their way through and escaped; see Eze 12:12; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight: that it might be a sign and emblem of the above things to them, and they might learn some instructions from it.”

“Thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground - Referring to the blinding of Zedekiah: even the covering of the face might be intended to signify that in this way Zedekiah should be carried to Babylon on men's shoulders in some sort of palanquin, with a cloth tied over his eyes, because of the recent wounds made by extracting them. All the prophecies from this to the twentieth chapter are supposed to have been delivered in the sixth year of Zedekiah, five years before the taking of Jerusalem. How accurate the prediction! and how exactly fulfilled!”

“Be carried. (Septuagint) St. Jerome reads, “thou shalt carry thy bundles on the shoulder,” as many explain the Hebrew, (Calmet) and also ver. 7. “I bear it upon my shoulder,” ver. 12. (Protestants) (Haydock) — Cover, to denote the blindness of Sedecias, (Calmet) or his attempt to disguise himself. (Haydock) — The faces of criminals were covered, Esther vii. The king and nobles escaped through a breach, Jeremias xxxix. 4. (Calmet) — Sign. Literally, “a prodigy to,” &c. (Haydock) — The actions as well as the words of the prophet indicated what would happen. (St. Jerome, ver. 11.)”

“in . . . twilight--rather, "in the dark." So in Gen 15:17, "it" refers to "thy stuff." cover thy face--as one who muffles his face, afraid of being recognized by anyone meeting him. So the Jews and Zedekiah should make their exit stealthily and afraid to look around, so hurried should be their fight [CALVIN]. sign--rather, "a portent," namely, for evil.”