This is what the Lord says:

“In the time of my favour I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads
    and find pasture on every barren hill.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
    and lead them beside springs of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
    and my highways will be raised up.
12 See, they will come from afar—
    some from the north, some from the west,
    some from the region of Aswan.”

13 Shout for joy, you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;
    burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people
    and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.

We have seen that, in this passage, God is still speaking to His ”servant” (who we know to be Jesus), promising to strengthen Him for the work of Redemption, the establishing of the New Covenant.

As the passage flows joyfully on, the words have a familiar feel. They are reminiscent of other texts in Isaiah where a ‘second exodus’ is envisaged, with God delivering the captives from Babylon, and providing for them and guiding them on their journey home.

But the context demands that it is much more than this. It must refer to the Messiah’s greatest work of liberation: the freeing of spiritual prisoners through His death on the Cross, and the great ingathering to His Kingdom. Note the allusion to verse 10 in Rev.7:17, showing the relevance to Gentiles also. This is a reason for worldwide and universal joy (13).

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves… Col.1:13.

 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9.

Paul was sent, by Jesus, to the Gentiles: …to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ Acts 26:18.

Thank God, this process of releasing darkness-bound prisoners continues, and the Kingdom of Christ grows apace.