We read in Daniel 2:1–49 how, in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, the Lord reveals an imposing image in a dream to the king. He is deeply affected by the whole event and even comes to the point of praising the God of Daniel. He acknowledges the Lord as the God who is above other gods and above kings. He recognizes the Lord as the God who can bring to light what is hidden. We see, however, something happening to him that also happen to other people at various times. Circumstances change and after some time, the feeling of being impressed disappears. After a while the king is again completely absorbed by his affairs of state, and these all revolve around him, his position and might.

In order to show off his power, Nebuchadnezzar builds a huge sixty cubits high and six cubits wide statue. Considering that one cubit is about 50 centimeters, it is about thirty meters high and three meters wide, all in all an impressive statue. This enormous statue is also made of gold. It looks like a correction of what he sees in his dream, where only the head of the statue is in gold. The latter pointed to Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. The image that he now makes for himself represents everything of his supposed greatness, which can be clearly seen from Daniel 3:15 onwards, because when the three friends do not kneel before the statue he says, And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands? He exalts himself here to the highest and most powerful god; to kneel before this image means to kneel before god Nebuchadnezzar.

He has this statue constructed on the plain of Dura, a plain close to the city of Babel. It is a relatively flat area where there is room to bring many people together, many who can, then, worship this image all at once. This happens to be the province where Daniel is in charge and where his three friends under him are the main administrators, see Daniel 2:48–49. This province is the heartland of the Babylonian Empire.