Water is not only a universal symbol of life but is also tangentially associated with the tree of life. (See commentary accompanying 1 Nephi 8:2–3.) The “wells of salvation” clearly come from the Messiah, and the tree is a symbol for the Messiah. Hence these are life-giving waters coming from the true tree of life. When one is filled with the waters of life, he or she is filled not with fluid, but with joy. Isaiah’s imagery is similar to the parable found in John 4:10–14:
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.