Just as in Jewish tradition the best man at a wedding blows the shofar or trumpet to herald the bridegroom’s arrival, so God’s end-time servant personifies the “trumpet” and “ensign” that heralds the coming of Jehovah and rallies God’s people to gather together for the marriage feast.
Isaiah 18:3
All you who live in the world,
you inhabitants of the earth,
look to the ensign
when it is lifted up in the mountains;
heed the trumpet when it is sounded!
Personifying Jehovah’s “voice” to his end-time people, and the attribute of “righteousness” in a time of unrighteousness, the servant calls on God’s people to repent of their transgressions. Though they practice their religion and appear righteous, they fall far short of true righteousness.
Isaiah 58:1–2
Proclaim it aloud without restraint;
raise your voice like a trumpet!
Declare to my people their transgressions,
to the house of Jacob its sins.
Yet they importune me daily,
eager to learn my ways,
like a nation practicing righteousness
and not forsaking the precepts of its God.
As the “sprig” or “root” of Jesse, as Jehovah’s “ensign” to the Gentiles, and as his right “hand” of deliverance, the servant brings about the end-time gathering to Zion of all of Israel’s twelve tribes. Like ancient David, he unites the two main branches of God’s people—Israel and Judah.
Isaiah 11:10–12
In that day the sprig of Jesse,
who stands for an ensign to the peoples,
shall be sought by the Gentiles,
and his rest shall be glorious.
In that day my Lord will again raise his hand
to reclaim the remnant of his people—
those who shall be left out of Assyria,
Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath,
and the islands of the sea.
He will raise the ensign to the Gentiles
and assemble the exiled of Israel;
he will gather the scattered of Judah
from the four directions of the earth.
The servant’s arrival on the world stage—upon the “mountains” or nations of the world—leads to a righteous remnant of Israel returning from end-time “Assyria” and “Egypt” to Jehovah’s “mountain” or nation. Their gathering place is sanctified or made “holy” by Jehovah’s presence.
Isaiah 27:13
In that day a loud trumpet shall sound,
and they who were lost in the land of Assyria
and they who were outcasts in the land of Egypt
shall come and bow down to Jehovah
in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Just as his people prepare for his coming by sanctifying themselves, so Jehovah prepares a feast for his vassals where death is done away. Called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9), and though he invites all, only few are worthy to attend (Doctrine & Covenants 58:8–12).
Isaiah 25:6–8
In this mountain will Jehovah of Hosts prepare
a sumptuous feast for all peoples,
a feast of leavened cakes, succulent and delectable,
of matured wines well refined.
In this mountain he will destroy
the veil that veils all peoples,
the shroud that shrouds all nations,
by abolishing death forever.
