The Prophet Joseph Smith, in a letter dated January 4, 1833, provided this enlightening comment on verse 11:
The time has at last arrived when the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has set his hand again the second time to recover the remnants of his people, which have been left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathron, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea, and with them to bring in the fulness of the Gentiles, and establish that covenant with them, which was promised when their sins should be taken away. See Isaiah xi; Romans xi: 25, 26 and 27, and also Jeremiah xxxi: 31, 32, and 33. This covenant has never been established with the house of Israel, nor with the house of Judah, for it requires two parties to make a covenant, and those two parties must be agreed, or no covenant can be made.
Christ, in the days of His flesh, proposed to make a covenant with them, but they rejected Him and His proposals, and in consequence thereof, they were broken off, and no covenant was made with them at that time. But their unbelief has not rendered the promise of God of none effect: no, for there was another day limited in David, which was the day of His power; and then His people, Israel, should be a willing people;—and He would write His law in their hearts, and print it in their thoughts; their sins and their iniquities He would remember no more. [TPJS, 14–15]
The Lord setting his hand the second time to recover his people is associated with the “marvelous work and a wonder” prophesied in Isaiah 29:14 and in 2 Nephi 25:17 and 29:1. The standard or “ensign” spoken of in Isaiah 11:12 is identified in 2 Nephi 29:2 as the words of Nephi’s seed (the Book of Mormon). This has also been more broadly interpreted by the General Authorities as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This certainly fits the concept of an ensign. Jacob, the Book of Mormon prophet, said that the day the Lord set his hand the second time to recover his people would be the day the Lord would send his servants to prune his vineyard for “the last time,” as foretold in the allegory of Zenos (see Jacob 6:2).