Haggai 2:6-9 was spoken to the returned exiles while they were rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. Those who remembered Solomon's Temple could see that the new structure appeared comparatively unimpressive, but God promised a future shaking of heaven, earth, sea, and nations and declared that the latter glory of this house would exceed its former glory. The difficult phrase traditionally rendered "the desire of all nations shall come" has also been translated as the treasures or desirable things of the nations coming to the Temple, so the verse should not be made to depend entirely upon identifying that phrase as a personal title for the Messiah.

Luke 2:27-32 records the infant Jesus being brought into this Second Temple, where Simeon recognizes Him as God's salvation, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel. Christian interpreters have therefore long seen profound significance in the fact that the Messiah personally entered the postexilic Temple whose future glory Haggai had promised. The New Testament does not explicitly quote Haggai 2:7-9 as fulfilled by this event, and the prophecy also contains wider eschatological language later echoed in Hebrews 12:26-28. The safest Christian interpretation is therefore that Christ's presence gives the Second Temple a glory far exceeding mere architectural splendor, while Haggai's promised shaking and final peace point beyond that visit to the ultimate establishment of God's unshakable kingdom.