This verse begins the final unit of Isaiah that Nephi will cite. The 1830 chapter division (this text is the first sentence of chapter 10 in that edition) correctly treats this as the beginning of a new unit. This introduction clearly marks this as a new prophecy, in that Isaiah (son of Amoz) is cited as the prophet who receives it (hardly necessary were it a continuation of another literary unit) and the subject now moves away from Assyria and toward Babylon. As noted in the comment on 2 Nephi 21:12, that verse appears to introduce a gathering for Judah different from that occasioned by the Assyrian conquest. This future gathering would be made essential because of a coming destruction of Judah at the hands of Babylon a hundred years into Isaiah's future. Perhaps that future reference to a gathering necessitated by Babylon's future actions was the thematic trigger for this prophecy focusing directly on Babylon.
The more obvious connecting link between this prophetic unit an the last is the theme of the ultimate establishment of the Messiah as ruler, and the destruction of the traditional enemies of Israel, symbolically standing for the triumph of good over evil. In the last unit Assyria, while temporarily the tool of the Lord's wrath, was eventually destroyed because of its pride and wickedness. In a continuation of this final battle theme (also seen in Isaiah 2?) Babylon will feel the wrath of the Lord in this unit.
Textual: "The "message" (or "burden" [KJV] that Isaiah delivers to Babylon is a prophetic oracle or divine declaration. The term comes from the Hebrew word massa, which becomes a superscription throughout Isaiah's prophecies to the foreign nations. (See Isa. 14:28; 15:1; 17:1; 19:1; 21:1, 11, 13; 22:1; 23:1.) Whereas some translators follow the King James Version and render this term as "burden," others follow the more literal meaning of the Hebrew ("raise up") and translate it as "oracle" or "message." The meanings complement each other, because when a prophet "raises his voice" for God, he delivers an "oracle," which can become a "burden" for the people, since additional knowledge and responsibility is placed upon them.
The means by which Isaiah received his message is clearly expressed in the Hebrew: he "saw" (chazah) the oracle of Babylon. Since chazah is the root for "seer," Isaiah did not just see (ro'eh) the vision physically, but he saw it as inspired in his calling as a prophet or seer." (Ludlow, 1982, p. 180.)
Historical: "Isaiah first addresses Babylon, the ancient country that had ruled over the Middle East until displaced by the Assyrians. Although Babylon was subject to Assyrian rule during Isaiah's lifetime, she gradually regained power and independence until the New Babylonian Empire replaced Assyria as the major power in the Fertile Crescent at the end of the seventh century BC. But even during the so-called Assyrian period, Babylon still represented the best of culture, learning, literature, and religion (in the same way that Greek culture was sustained and imitated during the Roman period). Therefore, Isaiah often uses Babylon and her king as symbols of the world and its wickedness." (Isaiah: Prophet Seer Poet, p. 180)