What does Hebrews 2:13 mean?

Verse 13 is part of an explanation of Jesus' role as Savior. By becoming a man, Jesus was able to say He had experienced all of the struggles of human life (Hebrews 4:15). This allows Him to be the leading example for our salvation (Hebrews 2:10) and gives Him the ability to call those who are saved His "brothers" (Hebrews 2:11). The author of Hebrews has used numerous Old Testament quotations to prove these ideas, and presents two more in this verse.

The first quotation is from Isaiah 8:17. In that verse, the prophet Isaiah is proclaiming his willingness to trust God even though God is hiding His face from Israel. Despite their sins and shortcomings, and despite God's current silence, the prophet knew that God was going to make good on His promises. This harmonizes well with the reference to Psalm 22 used in the prior verse from Hebrews. Both involve a servant who suffers but retains faith in God.

The second quotation in this verse is from Isaiah 8:18, though it also echoes the thoughts of Psalm 18:2. Psalm 18 proclaims trust in God and His promises. That Psalm also ends with a celebration of an anticipated rescue by God and His blessings on the psalmist's children. The writer of Hebrews has been discussing the idea of Christians as Jesus' brothers, something His sacrifice allowed us to become (1 John 3:1). The prophet Isaiah named his children according to the promises of God. Here, the idea seems to be that being given the promise of these children, or brothers, is a sign of God's faithfulness and blessing on Jesus.