What are we to understand from the reference to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people?

Nehemiah 4:14 (ESV)

14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

We met the nobles already in Nehemiah 2:16. The term denotes persons who have become influential as a result of economic success. The officials were also mentioned in Nehemiah 2:16, being community leaders likely appointed by authorities higher up the ladder. The rest of the people describes the masses, those who acknowledge leadership from nobles and officials. Collected before Nehemiah, then, is the general population of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 4:13). This is the crowd that was on the receiving end of the confusion generated by the enemies (Nehemiah 4:8), who heard the urging of fellow Jews from the distant villages to come home (Nehemiah 4:12), and who heard the ditty sung by the workers (Nehemiah 4:10). This population is demoralized and afraid, even as they are stationed by their clans along the wall.