Commentators widely agree that the 'ephah,' a standard grain measure, symbolizes the collective sins of the people. The vision illustrates a crucial principle: God is patient, but there is a limit. When a nation's iniquity 'fills the measure,' divine judgment follows. This is not about individual sins being counted one-by-one, but about a corporate state of rebellion reaching its final point, as seen when Jesus told the Pharisees to 'fill up the measure of your fathers’' (Matthew 23:32).