diff --git a/docs/site/Decorators_inject.md b/docs/site/Decorators_inject.md
index 30881db3b150..1e67fcfb77e7 100644
--- a/docs/site/Decorators_inject.md
+++ b/docs/site/Decorators_inject.md
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ from bindings that match a filter function.
 
 ```ts
 class MyControllerWithGetter {
-  @inject.getter(bindingTagFilter('prime'))
+  @inject.getter(filterByTag('prime'))
   getter: Getter<number[]>;
 }
 ```
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ import {DataSource} from '@loopback/repository';
 
 export class DataSourceTracker {
   constructor(
-    @inject.view(bindingTagFilter('datasource'))
+    @inject.view(filterByTag('datasource'))
     private dataSources: ContextView<DataSource[]>,
   ) {}
 
@@ -190,9 +190,9 @@ export class DataSourceTracker {
 }
 ```
 
-In the example above, `bindingTagFilter` is a helper function that creates a
-filter function that matches a given tag. You can define your own filter
-functions, such as:
+In the example above, `filterByTag` is a helper function that creates a filter
+function that matches a given tag. You can define your own filter functions,
+such as:
 
 ```ts
 export class DataSourceTracker {
diff --git a/packages/context/src/binding-filter.ts b/packages/context/src/binding-filter.ts
index 3ced61d5b977..94751fa446a3 100644
--- a/packages/context/src/binding-filter.ts
+++ b/packages/context/src/binding-filter.ts
@@ -15,18 +15,17 @@ export type BindingFilter<ValueType = unknown> = (
 
 /**
  * Create a binding filter for the tag pattern
- * @param tagPattern
+ * @param tagPattern Binding tag name, regexp, or object
  */
-export function bindingTagFilter(tagPattern: BindingTag | RegExp) {
-  let bindingFilter: BindingFilter;
+export function filterByTag(tagPattern: BindingTag | RegExp): BindingFilter {
   if (typeof tagPattern === 'string' || tagPattern instanceof RegExp) {
     const regexp =
       typeof tagPattern === 'string'
         ? wildcardToRegExp(tagPattern)
         : tagPattern;
-    bindingFilter = b => Array.from(b.tagNames).some(t => regexp!.test(t));
+    return b => Array.from(b.tagNames).some(t => regexp!.test(t));
   } else {
-    bindingFilter = b => {
+    return b => {
       for (const t in tagPattern) {
         // One tag name/value does not match
         if (b.tagMap[t] !== tagPattern[t]) return false;
@@ -35,22 +34,24 @@ export function bindingTagFilter(tagPattern: BindingTag | RegExp) {
       return true;
     };
   }
-  return bindingFilter;
 }
 
 /**
  * Create a binding filter from key pattern
- * @param keyPattern Binding key, wildcard, or regexp
+ * @param keyPattern Binding key/wildcard, regexp, or a filter function
  */
-export function bindingKeyFilter(keyPattern?: string | RegExp) {
-  let filter: BindingFilter = binding => true;
+export function filterByKey(
+  keyPattern?: string | RegExp | BindingFilter,
+): BindingFilter {
   if (typeof keyPattern === 'string') {
     const regex = wildcardToRegExp(keyPattern);
-    filter = binding => regex.test(binding.key);
+    return binding => regex.test(binding.key);
   } else if (keyPattern instanceof RegExp) {
-    filter = binding => keyPattern.test(binding.key);
+    return binding => keyPattern.test(binding.key);
+  } else if (typeof keyPattern === 'function') {
+    return keyPattern;
   }
-  return filter;
+  return () => true;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/context/src/binding-inspector.ts b/packages/context/src/binding-inspector.ts
index cddcc7d6ab2a..0822531dadbe 100644
--- a/packages/context/src/binding-inspector.ts
+++ b/packages/context/src/binding-inspector.ts
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ export type BindingFromClassOptions = {
   /**
    * Binding key
    */
-  key?: BindingAddress<unknown>;
+  key?: BindingAddress;
   /**
    * Artifact type, such as `server`, `controller`, `repository` or `service`
    */
diff --git a/packages/context/src/context.ts b/packages/context/src/context.ts
index d9ce50ad06b8..12d03180a28b 100644
--- a/packages/context/src/context.ts
+++ b/packages/context/src/context.ts
@@ -7,11 +7,7 @@ import * as debugModule from 'debug';
 import {v1 as uuidv1} from 'uuid';
 import {ValueOrPromise} from '.';
 import {Binding, BindingTag} from './binding';
-import {
-  BindingFilter,
-  bindingKeyFilter,
-  bindingTagFilter,
-} from './binding-filter';
+import {BindingFilter, filterByKey, filterByTag} from './binding-filter';
 import {BindingAddress, BindingKey} from './binding-key';
 import {
   ContextEventListener,
@@ -130,7 +126,7 @@ export class Context {
    * @param key Binding key
    * @returns true if the binding key is found and removed from this context
    */
-  unbind(key: BindingAddress<unknown>): boolean {
+  unbind(key: BindingAddress): boolean {
     key = BindingKey.validate(key);
     const binding = this.registry.get(key);
     if (binding == null) return false;
@@ -218,7 +214,7 @@ export class Context {
    * delegating to the parent context
    * @param key Binding key
    */
-  contains(key: BindingAddress<unknown>): boolean {
+  contains(key: BindingAddress): boolean {
     key = BindingKey.validate(key);
     return this.registry.has(key);
   }
@@ -227,7 +223,7 @@ export class Context {
    * Check if a key is bound in the context or its ancestors
    * @param key Binding key
    */
-  isBound(key: BindingAddress<unknown>): boolean {
+  isBound(key: BindingAddress): boolean {
     if (this.contains(key)) return true;
     if (this._parent) {
       return this._parent.isBound(key);
@@ -239,7 +235,7 @@ export class Context {
    * Get the owning context for a binding key
    * @param key Binding key
    */
-  getOwnerContext(key: BindingAddress<unknown>): Context | undefined {
+  getOwnerContext(key: BindingAddress): Context | undefined {
     if (this.contains(key)) return this;
     if (this._parent) {
       return this._parent.getOwnerContext(key);
@@ -271,12 +267,7 @@ export class Context {
     pattern?: string | RegExp | BindingFilter,
   ): Readonly<Binding<ValueType>>[] {
     const bindings: Readonly<Binding>[] = [];
-    const filter: BindingFilter =
-      pattern == null ||
-      typeof pattern === 'string' ||
-      pattern instanceof RegExp
-        ? bindingKeyFilter(pattern)
-        : pattern;
+    const filter = filterByKey(pattern);
 
     for (const b of this.registry.values()) {
       if (filter(b)) bindings.push(b);
@@ -303,7 +294,7 @@ export class Context {
   findByTag<ValueType = BoundValue>(
     tagFilter: BindingTag | RegExp,
   ): Readonly<Binding<ValueType>>[] {
-    return this.find(bindingTagFilter(tagFilter));
+    return this.find(filterByTag(tagFilter));
   }
 
   protected _mergeWithParent<ValueType>(
diff --git a/packages/context/src/inject.ts b/packages/context/src/inject.ts
index 5b149359feb8..e5741719cea2 100644
--- a/packages/context/src/inject.ts
+++ b/packages/context/src/inject.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import {
   PropertyDecoratorFactory,
 } from '@loopback/metadata';
 import {BindingTag} from './binding';
-import {BindingFilter, bindingTagFilter} from './binding-filter';
+import {BindingFilter, filterByTag} from './binding-filter';
 import {BindingAddress} from './binding-key';
 import {Context} from './context';
 import {ContextView} from './context-view';
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ export namespace inject {
       {decorator: '@inject.tag', tag: bindingTag},
       metadata,
     );
-    return inject(bindingTagFilter(bindingTag), metadata);
+    return inject(filterByTag(bindingTag), metadata);
   };
 
   /**
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ export namespace inject {
    *
    * ```ts
    * class MyControllerWithView {
-   *   @inject.view(Context.bindingTagFilter('foo'))
+   *   @inject.view(filterByTag('foo'))
    *   view: ContextView<string[]>;
    * }
    * ```
@@ -318,8 +318,10 @@ function resolveAsGetter(
 ) {
   const targetType = inspectTargetType(injection);
   if (targetType && targetType !== Function) {
+    const targetName = ResolutionSession.describeInjection(injection)!
+      .targetName;
     throw new Error(
-      `The target type ${targetType.name} is not a Getter function`,
+      `The type of ${targetName} (${targetType.name}) is not a Getter function`,
     );
   }
   if (typeof injection.bindingSelector === 'function') {
@@ -328,7 +330,8 @@ function resolveAsGetter(
   // We need to clone the session for the getter as it will be resolved later
   session = ResolutionSession.fork(session);
   return function getter() {
-    return ctx.get(injection.bindingSelector as BindingAddress, {
+    const key = injection.bindingSelector as BindingAddress;
+    return ctx.get(key, {
       session,
       optional: injection.metadata && injection.metadata.optional,
     });
@@ -338,13 +341,16 @@ function resolveAsGetter(
 function resolveAsSetter(ctx: Context, injection: Injection) {
   const targetType = inspectTargetType(injection);
   if (targetType && targetType !== Function) {
+    const targetName = ResolutionSession.describeInjection(injection)!
+      .targetName;
     throw new Error(
-      `The target type ${targetType.name} is not a Setter function`,
+      `The type of ${targetName} (${targetType.name}) is not a Setter function`,
     );
   }
   // No resolution session should be propagated into the setter
   return function setter(value: unknown) {
-    ctx.bind(injection.bindingSelector as BindingAddress).to(value);
+    const key = injection.bindingSelector as BindingAddress;
+    ctx.bind(key).to(value);
   };
 }
 
@@ -417,7 +423,11 @@ function resolveByFilter(
   const targetType = inspectTargetType(injection);
   if (injection.metadata && injection.metadata.decorator === '@inject.view') {
     if (targetType && targetType !== ContextView) {
-      throw new Error(`The target type ${targetType.name} is not ContextView`);
+      const targetName = ResolutionSession.describeInjection(injection)!
+        .targetName;
+      throw new Error(
+        `The type of ${targetName} (${targetType.name}) is not ContextView`,
+      );
     }
   }
   const bindingFilter = injection.bindingSelector as BindingFilter;
diff --git a/packages/context/src/resolver.ts b/packages/context/src/resolver.ts
index 4d22c75e6b35..f4a7656d6459 100644
--- a/packages/context/src/resolver.ts
+++ b/packages/context/src/resolver.ts
@@ -101,15 +101,13 @@ function resolve<T>(
         return injection.resolve(ctx, injection, s);
       } else {
         // Default to resolve the value from the context by binding key
-        return ctx.getValueOrPromise(
-          injection.bindingSelector as BindingAddress<unknown>,
-          {
-            session: s,
-            // If the `optional` flag is set for the injection, the resolution
-            // will return `undefined` instead of throwing an error
-            optional: injection.metadata && injection.metadata.optional,
-          },
-        );
+        const key = injection.bindingSelector as BindingAddress;
+        return ctx.getValueOrPromise(key, {
+          session: s,
+          // If the `optional` flag is set for the injection, the resolution
+          // will return `undefined` instead of throwing an error
+          optional: injection.metadata && injection.metadata.optional,
+        });
       }
     },
     injection,
diff --git a/packages/context/test/acceptance/class-level-bindings.acceptance.ts b/packages/context/test/acceptance/class-level-bindings.acceptance.ts
index e7f3b530d88b..e5dd06edc372 100644
--- a/packages/context/test/acceptance/class-level-bindings.acceptance.ts
+++ b/packages/context/test/acceptance/class-level-bindings.acceptance.ts
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ describe('Context bindings - Injecting dependencies of classes', () => {
 
     ctx.bind('store').toClass(Store);
     expect(() => ctx.getSync<Store>('store')).to.throw(
-      /The target type String is not a Getter function/,
+      'The type of Store.constructor[0] (String) is not a Getter function',
     );
   });
 
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ describe('Context bindings - Injecting dependencies of classes', () => {
 
     ctx.bind('store').toClass(Store);
     expect(() => ctx.getSync<Store>('store')).to.throw(
-      /The target type Object is not a Setter function/,
+      'The type of Store.constructor[0] (Object) is not a Setter function',
     );
   });
 
diff --git a/packages/context/test/acceptance/context-view.acceptance.ts b/packages/context/test/acceptance/context-view.acceptance.ts
index 514629ffbfef..4c48cff33947 100644
--- a/packages/context/test/acceptance/context-view.acceptance.ts
+++ b/packages/context/test/acceptance/context-view.acceptance.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import {expect} from '@loopback/testlab';
 import {
   Binding,
-  bindingTagFilter,
+  filterByTag,
   Context,
   ContextEventListener,
   ContextEventType,
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ describe('ContextView - watches matching bindings', () => {
 
   function givenControllerWatcher() {
     server = givenServerWithinAnApp();
-    contextWatcher = server.createView(bindingTagFilter('controller'));
+    contextWatcher = server.createView(filterByTag('controller'));
     givenController(server, '1');
     givenController(server.parent!, '2');
   }
@@ -57,19 +57,19 @@ describe('@inject.* - injects a live collection of matching bindings', async ()
   beforeEach(givenPrimeNumbers);
 
   class MyControllerWithGetter {
-    @inject.getter(bindingTagFilter('prime'), {watch: true})
+    @inject.getter(filterByTag('prime'), {watch: true})
     getter: Getter<number[]>;
   }
 
   class MyControllerWithValues {
     constructor(
-      @inject(bindingTagFilter('prime'))
+      @inject(filterByTag('prime'))
       public values: number[],
     ) {}
   }
 
   class MyControllerWithView {
-    @inject.view(bindingTagFilter('prime'))
+    @inject.view(filterByTag('prime'))
     view: ContextView<number[]>;
   }
 
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ describe('ContextEventListener - listens on matching bindings', () => {
 
   class MyListenerForControllers implements ContextEventListener {
     controllers: Set<string> = new Set();
-    filter = bindingTagFilter('controller');
+    filter = filterByTag('controller');
     listen(event: ContextEventType, binding: Readonly<Binding<unknown>>) {
       if (event === 'bind') {
         this.controllers.add(binding.tagMap.name);
diff --git a/packages/context/test/unit/context-view.unit.ts b/packages/context/test/unit/context-view.unit.ts
index 70e1934b2f56..391bcd390328 100644
--- a/packages/context/test/unit/context-view.unit.ts
+++ b/packages/context/test/unit/context-view.unit.ts
@@ -4,13 +4,7 @@
 // License text available at https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
 
 import {expect} from '@loopback/testlab';
-import {
-  Binding,
-  BindingScope,
-  bindingTagFilter,
-  Context,
-  ContextView,
-} from '../..';
+import {Binding, BindingScope, filterByTag, Context, ContextView} from '../..';
 
 describe('ContextView', () => {
   let ctx: Context;
@@ -97,7 +91,7 @@ describe('ContextView', () => {
   function givenContextView() {
     bindings = [];
     ctx = givenContext(bindings);
-    contextView = ctx.createView(bindingTagFilter('foo'));
+    contextView = ctx.createView(filterByTag('foo'));
   }
 });
 
diff --git a/packages/context/test/unit/inject-view.unit.ts b/packages/context/test/unit/inject-view.unit.ts
index d8f6034bc6cb..ffe6ea3df835 100644
--- a/packages/context/test/unit/inject-view.unit.ts
+++ b/packages/context/test/unit/inject-view.unit.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import {expect} from '@loopback/testlab';
 import {
   Binding,
   BindingScope,
-  bindingTagFilter,
+  filterByTag,
   Context,
   ContextView,
   Getter,
@@ -19,19 +19,19 @@ describe('@inject.view', async () => {
   beforeEach(() => (ctx = givenContext()));
 
   class MyControllerWithGetter {
-    @inject.view(bindingTagFilter('foo'), {watch: true})
+    @inject.view(filterByTag('foo'), {watch: true})
     getter: Getter<string[]>;
   }
 
   class MyControllerWithValues {
     constructor(
-      @inject.view(bindingTagFilter('foo'))
+      @inject.view(filterByTag('foo'))
       public values: string[],
     ) {}
   }
 
   class MyControllerWithTracker {
-    @inject.view(bindingTagFilter('foo'))
+    @inject.view(filterByTag('foo'))
     view: ContextView<string[]>;
   }
 
@@ -39,14 +39,18 @@ describe('@inject.view', async () => {
     ctx.bind('my-controller').toClass(MyControllerWithGetter);
     await expect(
       ctx.get<MyControllerWithGetter>('my-controller'),
-    ).to.be.rejectedWith('The target type Function is not ContextView');
+    ).to.be.rejectedWith(
+      'The type of MyControllerWithGetter.prototype.getter (Function) is not ContextView',
+    );
   });
 
   it('reports error if the target type (string[]) is not ContextView', async () => {
     ctx.bind('my-controller').toClass(MyControllerWithValues);
     await expect(
       ctx.get<MyControllerWithValues>('my-controller'),
-    ).to.be.rejectedWith('The target type Array is not ContextView');
+    ).to.be.rejectedWith(
+      'The type of MyControllerWithValues.constructor[0] (Array) is not ContextView',
+    );
   });
 
   it('injects as a view', async () => {
@@ -69,19 +73,19 @@ describe('@inject with filter function', async () => {
   beforeEach(() => (ctx = givenContext()));
 
   class MyControllerWithGetter {
-    @inject.getter(bindingTagFilter('foo'), {watch: true})
+    @inject.getter(filterByTag('foo'), {watch: true})
     getter: Getter<string[]>;
   }
 
   class MyControllerWithValues {
     constructor(
-      @inject(bindingTagFilter('foo'))
+      @inject(filterByTag('foo'))
       public values: string[],
     ) {}
   }
 
   class MyControllerWithView {
-    @inject(bindingTagFilter('foo'))
+    @inject(filterByTag('foo'))
     view: ContextView<string[]>;
   }