Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
In context, Elohim, or Heavenly Father, is still speaking in this verse. Because Jesus had fulfilled his role as the Redeemer of humankind, he “ascended into heaven” (Mosiah 15:9) and took his position “on the right hand of the Father” in the council of the Gods (D&C 20:24). In turn, Jesus is willing to divide his blessings, or spoils—a term referring to what was obtained after winning a battle—with those who accept and remain strong in the gospel. He taught this principle to his disciples at the end of his ministry: “Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:28–30).
Jesus was able to do this because he had poured out his soul unto death, or had freely given his life that “I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself” (John 10:17–18). In accomplishing this momentous task, he was numbered with the transgressors, or suffered the most degrading of deaths at that time. Prior to his death, he had gone to Gethsemane and there, as Isaiah foretold, bore the sins of those who repented and also paid for those who ignorantly sinned. As explained earlier, Christ paid for the sins of all humankind, both the repentant and unrepentant, but the context of Isaiah describes only those who benefitted from the Atonement by repenting of their sins. Having completed his prophecy of Christ’s suffering, Isaiah returned to prophecy of the gathering of Israel (Isaiah 54), the subject he had left to insert this inspiring and now well-known prophecy of Christ’s mission.