What does Isaiah 11:12 mean?
In describing the kingdom to come, ruled by the Messiah, Isaiah is showing who will be under the reign of this future king. In short, the Messiah's rule will unite the world in peace because the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth (Isaiah 11:9).Isaiah returns to the form of poetry to reiterate more simply what he has written. The Messiah will raise the signal, or banner, for the non-Jewish nations to gather under His perfect rule. He will also assemble the banished of Israel and the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
In the prophet's time, Israel was the name for the northern ten tribes, while the southern two tribes were called Judah. Israel had been conquered by the Assyrians and her people carried off. Judah had not yet been fully decimated, but she soon would be. The Lord had promised to spare a remnant (Isaiah 10:20–21). Now Isaiah's readers learn that the scattered from both Israel and Judah would be reassembled as a nation once more.