Daniel 4:20-22

“The tree that you saw, which grew and was strong, whose height reached to heaven, and was in sight of all the earth, whose leaves were lush, and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and on whose branches the birds of heaven had their nests. It is you, O king. You have grown and become strong. For your greatness has grown and reached to heaven, and your dominion is to the end of the earth.”

The tree represented all that Nebuchadnezzar could have hoped for. It represented him as powerful and strong, riding tall and famous, the feeder and protector of His people, so famous that even the gods knew of him (‘reached to heaven' - compare Genesis 10:9), and ruler of the known world. But then was to come the downside.