Isaiah continues to describe the reversals that will come in the last days. Israel will have rest from sorrow and fear and be freed from the bondage that they had to serve.
The reversal is such that Israel will rise above what they then saw as an insurmountable enemy. The text mentions Babylon, but it applied to Assyria as well. At the time of the invasions, they were formidable, but in the last days, they will cease and Israel will not only persist, but Israel shall be dominant.
The reversal continues with the breaking of the symbols of power of the earthly kingdoms: the staffs and scepters.