Isaiah’s prophecies quoted in 2 Nephi 8 speak of the latter-day gathering of Israel. The Lord promised to “comfort Zion” and “make her wilderness like Eden” (verse 3). He admonished them, “Fear ye not the reproach of men” (verse 7). He promised that “the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion” (verse 11). He would cover them “in the shadow of [His] hand” (verse 16). The early Saints found comfort in this as well as other prophecies of Isaiah.
President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) explained that our forefathers were participating in the fulfillment of these prophecies of Isaiah concerning the gathering of Israel:
“Our forefathers … were strong and courageous in the Lord, knowing that He was their defense, their refuge, their salvation. Strengthened by this faith, they relied on their cherished independence, their frugality, and honest toil. And history records that even the climate was tempered for their sakes, and their humble untiring efforts made ‘the desert to blossom as the rose.’
“Their faith was renewed by two of Isaiah’s remarkable prophecies concerning the last days—the days in which they knew they were living. In the first of these Isaiah announces: ‘The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.’ (Isaiah 35:1.) And again: ‘For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.’ (Isaiah 51:3.)
“And while their natural eyes saw only their log cabins and immediate surroundings, they envisioned the day when the words of Micah would be fulfilled: ‘But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains. …’ (Micah 4:1–2.)
“We have witnessed the fulfillment of these remarkable prophecies” (This Nation Shall Endure [1977], 42).
Concerning the gathering of the Jews to the land of Israel, Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that a spiritual gathering precedes the physical gathering: “Judah will gather to old Jerusalem in due course; of this, there is no doubt. But this gathering will consist of accepting Christ, joining the Church, and receiving anew the Abrahamic covenant as it is administered in holy places. The present assembling of people of Jewish ancestry into the Palestinian nation of Israel is not the scriptural gathering of Israel or of Judah. It may be prelude thereto, and some of the people so assembled may in due course be gathered into the true church and kingdom of God on earth, and they may then assist in building the temple that is destined to grace Jerusalem’s soil. But a political gathering is not a spiritual gathering, and the Lord’s kingdom is not of this world” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 519–20; see also pages 511, 564–65).