Shalom and thank you for your question! We are not aware of a particular significance to the words you quote from the book of Daniel, although you are correct that much can be learned about the forthcoming redemption from this book.
In the first book of the Torah we learn that Jacob sent Judah (Yehudah,) before him to Egypt to ‘prepare’ the land of Goshen as a dwelling place for him. The commentator Rashi explains that this preparation meant preparing a house of study. (The Patriarchs learned and observed Torah as handed down to them from previous generations. However, the commandments were observed in a spiritual way, but when the Torah was given to the Jewish people in Mount Sinai the Jewish people became obligated to observe the commandments, and this observance became the way to elevate the material world. From then on a physical object with which a commandment was performed possessed holiness, for example, the parchment upon which a Torah scroll is written is holy and must be treated with utmost respect.) The purpose of this house of study was to give the Jewish people the strength to endure the years of slavery, and also to refine the atmosphere of Egypt which was steeped in idolatry and promiscuity. In a similar way, Daniel had a mission to prepare for future Jewish life in Babylon. He refused to eat non-kosher food served to him in the King’s palace and yet thrived physically together with his Jewish companions Hananiah, Mishael and Azarya, who had been brought there forcefully to be raised in the palace. Later on when the kings ministers who could not bear to see how the king favored Daniel conspired to have the King issue a decree against prayer, Daniel did not stop praying and did not hide that fact. He was then thrown in the lions den and miraculously survived. All of this shows us how to behave to hasten the Messianic redemption. Redemption is all about meeting the challenges of life in this world by behaving in accordance with G-d’s instructions, even when it is difficult or inconvenient. When we do this we are elevating the latent holiness in the world and truly bringing the Redemption closer. The Lubavitcher Rebbe pointed out that we can see many changes in the world that have brought us closer to the Redemption. On the building of the United Nations is enscribed a passage from Isaiah about “turning swords into ploughshares.” Indeed Russia and America have acted on this and diverted money to feeding third world countries and some military aircraft and weapons to civilian uses. For example, equipment in a playground in Peru was constructed using metal from weaponry.
Regular people like us do not have the ability to ‘prophecy’ using the numerical value system. There are accepted concepts of numerical value by the Sages of the Talmud and other Torah scholars who are considered to have Divine inspiration. We can and should continue to learn these concepts from the commentaries of the Sages and the teachings of the inner dimensions of Torah, as laid out in Chassidic teachings. There is such a wealth of references in the written and Oral Torah that it isn’t possible to include them in this answer.
Maimonides, Rabbi Moses son of Maimon also known by the acronym Rambam, detailed in his seminal work Mishneh Torah, in the section called ‘Hilchot Mlachim,’ laws of Kings – various signs which enable us to determine when the Messiah is here.
In his Thirteen Principles of Faith, he teaches that we must await the coming of the Messiah every day, even though he may tarry. In general the Sages frowned on
the practice of trying to determine a particular date for Redemption. On the other hand, we must be alert for Moshiach’s coming and strengthen our faith in it, as explained above.
If you study the Jewish prayers, you will find that all the daily prayers are geared towards the building of the Third Temple- may it be speedily in our day, and the coming of the Messiah. (Moshiach in Hebrew.)
An example is in the Grace after Meals:
“And (please) build Jerusalem the Holy City speedily in our days…”
When we perform the commandments with the awareness that this is the aim – to make the world ‘a dwelling place for G-d,” a place where the struggle for good to prevail against evil has succeeded, then we are using the ‘secret weapon’ that G-d has given us to hasten the Redemption!
