Hopeis proclaimed “in that day.”
Verse 20: There will come a day when the remnant of Israel will cease relying on the arm of flesh and turn to the merciful arm of God. The remnant shall return, in truth. The Hebrew verb lashuv means both to return and to repent. The meaning of the Hebrew concept of repentance is to come back (to God).
Verse 21: “The remnant shall return” is in Hebrew Shearjashub, the prophetic name of Isaiah’s son. There are two remnants: the historic remnant of the past and the prophetic remnant of the future. The eschatological message (the message for the last days) is embodied in the remnant’s return to “the mighty God,” which is a messianic prophecy already laid down in 2 Nephi 19:6. Hosea also voiced this prophetic truth: “Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God … and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days” (Hosea 3:5; emphasis added).
Verses 22–23: The hand of God is in the “consumption decreed” upon all nations in the last days (see also D&C 87:6), and though the people of Israel become numerous, yet only a remnant will truly repent and return to their God.
Verses 24–26: Consoling words from a loving God—yes, there is a consumption decreed and an overflowing scourge will be felt by all nations, but fear not. “Assyria,” the figurative title for a superpower in the latter days, will again strike as an instrument in the hands of the Lord of hosts, but the smiting is measured and will, in the Lord’s due time, cease. The people that dwell in the future Zion will be rescued, and “Assyria” will be scourged just as Gideon punished the Midianites (Judges 7).
Verse 27: “The yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing” clearly has messianic connotation. It is the Anointed One who makes all burdens or yokes light and eventually takes them away (Matthew 11:28–30).
Verses 28–32: Isaiah described, as if standing on the wall of Jerusalem, the progress of the Assyrian army toward Jerusalem, featuring in Hebrew a superb example of alliteration. “In the prophet’s vision, an army is depicted as marching on Jerusalem from the north via the province of Samaria, conquering a series of towns as it passed through the district of Benjamin.” 57 This idealized sequential conquest narrative apparently symbolizes also the future siege called Armageddon.
Verses 33–34: Historically this was fulfilled as leaders of Assyria were lopped off and hewn down, but the figure is also future (Zechariah 14:2; Revelation 11). The Lord of hosts will do the cutting down in both eras.