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.
Isaiah 11:10
Again, the Root out of Jesse (David’s father) is none other than Christ Jesus. That Jesus is the One Who shall stand as an ensign for the people speaks of the fact that they can righteously follow Him and not be led astray.
Years ago, when my wife and I went to the Pentecostal World Conference in Jerusalem we made a four day detour to England. While in England we took a tour of some of the famous sights. Our tour guide carried a yellow folder, and when the folder moved, we followed lest we get lost in the crowd. There were other tour guides with different colored folders but we dare not follow whoever that was—that is if we wanted to get back on the correct bus and to our hotel.
In the days when pirates roamed the seas their wooden ships looked like everyone else’s ships until they raised their flag—the skull and cross bones. When they raised their flag, they were about to raid an unsuspecting merchant ship. In WWII the German Navy had a ship that did not look like a ship of war, but its total mission was to raid and sink merchant ships headed for England. The British sunk it.
Israel’s twelve tribes each had a flag of its own color and design and the people of that particular tribe would follow its own flag (ensign). Later the military rank of ensign was the one responsible for carrying the flag of a particular company or platoon.
Our text speaks of One who will be an “ensign” of the people but then Isaiah adds, that even the Gentiles shall seek to come to and follow the leadership of the Person that Isaiah is writing about. One needs to remember that Isaiah was a Jewish Prophet writing to the Hebrew people about a Jewish Messiah, so this message had to be an eye-opener to them. However, history has proved this prophecy to be true because this Jewish Messiah is the Savior of all who will believe in Him both the Jew and the Gentile.
The last phrase in the verse above speaks of His rest. Other than the KJV, most translations say that “His resting place” shall be glorious but I think that it speaks to the “rest” that those who come to Him will find. Did Jesus not say, “Come unto me all of you…and you shall find rest for your souls?” The rest for all who come will find it to be wonderful and glorious? Since you have believed on the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you have entered into that rest so abide there and the peace of God will fill your heart and mind today. Amen and amen.
