(Isa. 13:14–22; refer in this text to 2 Ne. 23:1 & 2 Ne. 24:22–23.)
[Babylon] was the greatest city in all the world… . Yet Isaiah announced that that city would be destroyed; he said that it would never be rebuilt, that it would never be inhabited from generation to generation, that it would become the abode of reptiles and wild animals and that the Arabs would no more pitch their tents there. That was a declaration that the greatest city in the world would not only be destroyed, but it would also never be rebuilt.
(LeGrand Richards, Conference Report, Apr. 1954, 54.)
You remember the prophecy of Isaiah, when he declared the destruction of Babylon, which was at that time the greatest city in all the world… . Isaiah said that it would never be rebuilt, that it should become the abode of wild animals and reptiles, that the Arab would no more pitch his tent there. (See Isa. 13:19–22.)
When Brother [Howard W.] Hunter and Brother [Spencer W.] Kimball came back from the Holy Land after Christmas 1961, I asked Brother Hunter if he saw Babylon. He said he saw what there was left of it. Just think of anyone but a prophet of God being able to say that one of the great cities of the world today would be destroyed and never be rebuilt.
(LeGrand Richards, Conference Report, Oct. 1966, 42.)
Isaiah prophesied a literal new exodus for some of the Lord’s people in the last days that resembles the ancient exodus out of Egypt. He predicted that the Lord’s people will exit “Babylon” on the eve of a cataclysmic destruction, a destruction like that which struck Sodom and Gomorrah. To Isaiah, however, “Babylon” in the latter days consists of a world ripening in iniquity and the wicked who make up its citizenry. Both the exodus out of Egypt, therefore, and also the name Babylon serve as types. First, the Lord will miraculously intervene to save his people from bondage and destruction as he did in Egypt. Second, the ancient Babylonian world, which was known for its idolatry and oppression, here becomes a symbol of latter-day wickedness. Third, there will occur a Sodom-and-Gomorrah type of destruction (by fire rained down from the sky) in the last days.
(Avraham Gileadi, Rediscovering The Book of Mormon, ed. John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co. 1991], 198–99.)
Babylon was one of the great cities of the ancient world, perhaps the greatest. Its walls were, for height and width, one of the wonders of the world. The temple of Bel, the terraced (“hanging”) gardens, the immense copper gates, and the artificial lake were, up to that time, the greatest achievements of human skill and ingenuity. The fields and farms and flocks yielded almost incredible returns, and the wealth, luxury and power of the ruling classes were correspondingly great. If any city, or country, could be regarded as invincible, Babylonia and Babylon might be so considered. But centuries before their fall Isaiah predicted, with supernatural knowledge of the details, the destruction of the city and the overthrow of the government.
It was done by means of strategy. After a long siege, apparently without effect, Cyrus, who led the besieging Medes and Persians, decided to turn the Euphrates out of its course and enter on the dry river bed. That was a gigantic undertaking. The river was 1500 feet wide and 12 feet deep. However, the undertaking was successful. The invaders entered from two sides, the former inflow and outflow of the river, and so quietly did they take possession that most of the people did not know what was happening till it was too late to make resistance. Aristotle had been informed that some of the inhabitants did not know until three days afterwards that the city had fallen. When the king of Babylon learned that Cyrus was at the gate of the palace, he commanded that he be admitted. He was. The king and all the revelers surrounding him perished. Many Babylonian princes, at that time, ended their useless earthly lives, in a drunken debauch. The kingdom was divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. Comp. Dan. 5.
(George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, ed. Philip C. Reynolds, 7 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1955–1961], 1:364.)