11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
(Verse 10, 11.) And you shall break the jar in the eyes of the men who go or come with you. And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: So shall I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel, which cannot be restored any longer. Clearly it is spoken not of the Babylonian, but of the Roman captivity. For after the Babylonians, the city was rebuilt, the people brought back to Judah, and the former abundance restored. But after the captivity, which happened under Vespasian and Titus, and later under Hadrian, the ruins of Jerusalem will remain until the end of the world, although the Jews believe that golden and jeweled Jerusalem will be restored to them, and again there will be sacrifices and holy marriages and the kingdom of the Lord Savior on earth. Although we may not follow these beliefs, we cannot condemn them, because many ecclesiastical men and martyrs have spoken of these things. And let each one abound in his own sense, and let all things be reserved for the judgment of the Lord (Rom. XIV). However, just as a clay vessel, once it has been broken, cannot be restored to its former appearance: so too the people of the Jews and Jerusalem, once they have been destroyed, will not have their former condition. Finally, today the name of that city is empty, and it is called Aelia by Aelius Hadrianus, and it has lost its former name along with its former inhabitants, in order to destroy their pride. However, the names of the Holy Cross and Resurrection do not signify a city, but a place: nor the former greatness of riches, by which the Jewish people perished, but the glory of sanctity, which our humble Bethlehem possesses, not having gold and gems, but the bread that was born in it.
The apostle also knows vessels of wrath “made for destruction so that he might make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy.” God has divided all people into these two vessels, those of wrath, those of mercy, those like Pharaoh and the Egyptians, those like Paul and those who have believed. But what is the treasury of the Lord in which are the vessels of wrath? Perhaps it is the church, in which such often go unnoticed. But there will be a time when he opens the church. For now they have been shut up, and the vessels of wrath share space with the vessels of mercy, and the chaff are with the wheat. In one net are the worthless and the chosen fish. The Lord opens up his treasury in the time of the judgment, when the vessels of wrath are thrown out. He who is a vessel of mercy may reasonably say, “They have gone out from us, for they were not from us.” Outside the treasury the vessels who sin are not yet the vessels of wrath, but inferior. For they are servants who did not know the will of their Lord and did not do it. So they are vessels who are simply kept for other purposes.
Notice here “the rod of direction” that is described. “You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity.” Draw near to that “rod.” Let Christ be your King: let him rule you with that rod, not crush you with it. For that rod is “a rod of iron,” an inflexible rod. “You shall rule them with a rod of iron and break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Some he rules; others he “breaks in pieces.” He “rules” those who are spiritual; he “breaks in pieces” those who are concerned about earthly desires.… Would he so loudly declare that he was about to strike you if he really wanted to strike you? He is, then, holding back his hand from the punishment of your offenses; but you dare not hold back. Turn around and face the punishment for your offenses, for there can be no unpunished offenses. Punishment therefore must be executed either by you or by him. You should plead guilty then in order that he may grant you a reprieve. - "Expositions of the Psalms 45.16"
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 19:10-11