"An ensign to/for the nations"
This phrase shows up twice in the Book of Mormon, both times in quoted Isaiah passages.
26 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; none shall be weary nor stumble among them. (2 Nephi 15)
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. (2 Nephi 21)
"Ensign" could also be translated "banner," "standard," or "sign," and comes from the Hebrew root "nes." These are both clear references to the work of gathering of Israel. The verse in 2 Nephi 21 comes directly after we are told "the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people."
Elder Holland speaks of a time when early church leaders felt that this prophecy was being literally fulfilled:
As has often been told from this pulpit, Brother Brigham led a handful of leaders to the summit of that hill and proclaimed it Ensign Peak, a name filled with religious meaning for these modern Israelites. Twenty-five hundred years earlier the prophet Isaiah had declared that in the last days “the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains,” and there “he shall set up an ensign for the nations.”
Seeing their moment in history as partial fulfillment of that prophecy, the Brethren wished to fly a banner of some kind to make the idea of “an ensign for the nations” literal. Elder Heber C. Kimball produced a yellow bandana. Brother Brigham tied it to a walking stick carried by Elder Willard Richards and then planted the makeshift flag, declaring the valley of the Great Salt Lake and the mountains surrounding it as that prophesied place from which the word of the Lord would go forth in the latter days. (source)
As I try to understand the symbols used in Isaiah, I look at other instances in the bible where these same words are used. I noticed this verse in Exodus 17:
Interestingly, all three of these chapters contain military language. Since a "banner" can refer to a flag raised to rally troops, this detail caught my attention. Notice the symbolism in Exodus 17, when Moses is commanded to raise his staff and hold it aloft while the army of the Israelites battles the Amalekites, who had attacked them. When he is weary, he sits upon a stone and others support his arms until the battle is won. In commemoration of the victory, Moses builds the altar and names it "The Lord is my Banner." We have a staff, a stone, and an altar, all associated with a prophet.
As for the military imagery, we get a lot of that in Isaiah, and for me it indicates that the intended effect of the work of gathering is to invite all men to come unto Christ and be become a new creature through priesthood ordinances. This creates a certain amount of carnage as a by-product.
More about staffs and the power of the word in the near future.
15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. (NIV)
Interestingly, all three of these chapters contain military language. Since a "banner" can refer to a flag raised to rally troops, this detail caught my attention. Notice the symbolism in Exodus 17, when Moses is commanded to raise his staff and hold it aloft while the army of the Israelites battles the Amalekites, who had attacked them. When he is weary, he sits upon a stone and others support his arms until the battle is won. In commemoration of the victory, Moses builds the altar and names it "The Lord is my Banner." We have a staff, a stone, and an altar, all associated with a prophet.
As for the military imagery, we get a lot of that in Isaiah, and for me it indicates that the intended effect of the work of gathering is to invite all men to come unto Christ and be become a new creature through priesthood ordinances. This creates a certain amount of carnage as a by-product.
More about staffs and the power of the word in the near future.