This verse provides three symbolic/descriptive elements of the coming Messiah. The first is that he grows up as a "tender plant." The second is the "dry ground," and the third is that this coming Messiah has "no beauty that we should desire him."
The first element describes the suffering Messiah (these passages are typically labeled the suffering servant songs, with Jewish interpretation having Israel as the suffering servant) as a young and tender plant. Ludlow suggests that this is the image of the Messiah being raised from an infant, and that he must grow as do all children (Ludlow 1982, p. 448). This image may also have a tie to the image of the "branch" which is also used to describe the Messiah (see Isaiah 11:1 and Jeremiah 23:5;23:15).While the tender plant is not precisely the same as a branch, yet the botanical reference to a young growth is close enough that it should be considered.
The next image relates the tender plant to the dry ground. Here the image adds the root of the plant. As with the "tender plant" we may also see the "root" as related to established Messianic imagery, such as is found earlier in Isaiah: Isa. 11:10 "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious." In Isaiah 11:10 the "root" is clearly a personification of the triumphant Messiah. In Isaiah 53:2 the "root" is the suffering Messiah. Nevertheless the imagery is sufficiently similar to suspect that Isaiah not only used them similarly, but comprehended that the suffering Messiah and the triumphant Messiah were indeed the same person.
The dry ground is a symbolic contrast with a fertile land. The image is therefore a Messiah coming from a land not necessarily prepared for that Messiah. The Israel into which the suffering Messiah will be born will not be one that is willing to accept the Message of the servant of God, and therefore will inflict upon him the conditions Isaiah will describe.
The final description is of a being who is not possessed of physical beauty (as the KJV translates it). Joseph Fielding Smith read the passage as follows: "There was nothing about him to cause people to single him out. In appearance he was like men; and so it is expressed here by the prophet that he had no form or comeliness, that is, he was not so distinctive, so different from others that people would recognize him as the Son of God. He appeared as a mortal man." (Smith, Joseph Fielding. Doctrines of Salvation. Bookcraft, 1977. 1:23).
This interpretation diminishes the pejorative connotations of Isaiah. Rather than the relatively negative statement of Isaiah, President Smith suggests a neutral reading. While it is certainly true that Jesus was not followed because of his striking physical beauty, Isaiah may be suggesting that this lack of comeliness was similar to the other "negatives" of the suffering servant. Certainly the earthly Jesus labored with his hands. Mark describes him as a "tekton" in Greek (Mark 6:3), which has been traditionally translated as a carpenter. John Dominic Crossan has examined the first century social context of a carpenter, and finds that it may be a rather undesirable profession, indicative of one who is landless. He then examines other statements in the gospels and suggests that some of the gospel writers were somewhat embarrassed by this less-than-admirable profession of their spiritual leader (Crossan, John Dominic. The Birth of Christianity. Harper San Francisco, 1998, p. 349). While Crossan's evidence is tenuous, it nevertheless highlights the possibility that the more negative aspects of Isaiah's descriptions might also apply to the mortal Messiah.
A further indication of the intent of Isaiah's passage to provide the contrast between the real nature of the atoning Messiah and his apparent nature lies in the word that was translated as "comeliness" in the KJV. That word is transliterated as hadar. Kevin Barney notes:
"Hadar means "ornament, splendour, honor." It is used, for example, to refer to grey hair for old men (Pro. 20:29), in Exodus 16:14 figuratively of the ornaments of Jerusalem as the bride of Yahweh, and in Leviticus 23:40 of the fruit of goodly (IE ornamental, beautiful) trees. Here it seems to mean that he had no splendour or majesty." (Barney, Kevin. "Translation question on Isaiah 53:3" January 16, 2000, Scripture-L.)
Isaiah is contrasting the real splendor of the Messiah with this lack of apparent glory. This poetic contradiction is a stylistic feature of many of Isaiah's writings.