Isaiah: An Ensign to the Nation

Isaiah is the only book of scripture that the Lord commanded by name that we should read and search diligently.

An ensign is defined as a flag or a standard in which a group stands together in a unity of purpose or identity. It is a sign and an emblem. We learn in Isaiah about an ensign to the nations. Isaiah 5:26 says, “And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly.” This ensign is a sign or a signal for people to prepare. This ensign is a sign for people to gather, to assemble themselves together, and to gather Israel. Isaiah 11:12, “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”

An ensign that we have today would be Moroni on top of our LDS temples. We are told that when the Savior returns again that those trumpets will sound. Isaiah 18:1-7 is a great block of scripture that talks about this; I want to look specifically at verse 3. “All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.”

This is a hymn called “High on the Mountain Top” and it was inspired from Isaiah 2:2-3 and Isaiah 5:26. I love this song and would like for you to read the lyrics and really think of them and ponder these words. It is talking about an ensign to the nation.

1^st Verse

High on the mountain top

A banner is unfurled.

Ye nations, now look up;

It waves to all the world.

In Deseret's sweet, peaceful land,

On Zion's mount behold it stand!

2^nd Verse

For God remembers still

His promise made of old

That he on Zion's hill

Truth's standard would unfold!

Her light should there attract the gaze

Of all the world in latter days.

3^rd Verse

His house shall there be reared,

His glory to display,

And people shall be heard

In distant lands to say:

We'll now go up and serve the Lord,

Obey his truth, and learn his word.

4^th Verse

For there we shall be taught

The law that will go forth,

With truth and wisdom fraught,

To govern all the earth.

Forever there his ways we'll tread,

And save ourselves with all our dead.

I love this song and it means so much more to me now that I understand it and know the words. This song brings me great peace, comfort, joy, and love.

I would like to go back to Isaiah 5:26-30. We are told that we are to gather the Saviors sheep, we are to gather Israel; it is more important now than it ever has been to do temple work and missionary work. We need to bring His sheep back into the fold and we really have no excuse; we have technology and the means to get around faster than ever.

When I first read Isaiah 5:27-30 I was not all that sure what it meant. I went to our institute student manual for clarification. I really like how they explained these verses and am taking this directly from the manual.

“The gathering of Israel in haste and with means not known in Isaiah’s day is portrayed in the conclusion of this chapter. Elder LeGrand Richards provided this modern-day application of the prophet’s words: “Since there were neither trains nor airplanes in that day, Isaiah could hardly have mentioned them by name. However, he seems to have described them in unmistakable words. How better could ‘their horses’ hoofs be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind’ than in the modern train? How better could ‘their roaring . . . be like a lion’ than in the roar of the airplane? Trains and airplanes do not stop for night. Therefore, was not Isaiah justified in saying: ‘none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken’? With this manner of transportation the Lord can really ‘hiss unto them from the end of the earth,’ that ‘they shall come with speed swiftly.’”

We need to be gathering together, we need to be doing our temple work, we need to be active in missionary work because we do not know when the Savior will come again. We need to be prepared when the Savior decides to come. That ensign that I see everyday on the temple will soon blow its trumpet and let us know that our Savior is here and I hope that we are all ready.

I would like to bring up a couple other ensigns that are symbolic ensigns to all nations of the earth.

-The Book of Mormon

-The Church of Jesus Christ