Today, we'll look at another mention of the highway, and flesh out a context for this prophecy, specifically to the latter-days.
"Recover[ing] the Remnant"
2 Nephi 21/Isaiah 11 is one such example. The highway which will allow them to11 And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
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. ...
15 And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind he shall shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry shod.
16 And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people which shall be left, from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. (2 Nephi 21/Isaiah 11)
Connection to the Restoration
We live in this long foretold day, when the Lord has set again to recover the remnant of His people for the second (and final) time. The highway which is prepared for this people -- to allow them to "go over dry shod" -- is the Everlasting Covenant administered in the Church, including the ordinances of the temple. Recall that "shall set again" is translated from the same Hebrew root that gives us the name Joseph. The restoration of the Gospel through Joseph Smith was part of the plan from the beginning.
Also recall that Lehi taught his son Joseph that Joseph in Egypt prophesied that he had:
"obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom." (2 Nephi 3:5)
It seems a central purpose for the restoration was not just to restore lost knowledge, but to restore the covenants which will protect us from drowning in the waters of the world, or the depths of hell. The covenant path will allow us to avoid these pitfalls, into which we would otherwise be led -- out of darkness, out of captivity, into light and freedom.
The "mighty wind" of the Lord
It is worth noting that the use of the word "wind" in verse 15 could just as well have been translated "Spirit," giving us this reading: "...with his mighty Spirit he shall shake his hand over the river."
In the next post, we'll connect even more symbols associated with these verses, and we'll tie them in to the temple, or at least to the two ways.