Isaiah 62:12

The holy people. Christ transforms His people into a “glorious church,” “holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:26, 27). When probation closes, Christ’s work of sanctification in behalf of His people will have been completed, and those who are holy will forever remain “holy still” (Rev. 22:11).

Redeemed of the Lord. It is Christ who redeems, or ransoms, His people, a thought Isaiah frequently stresses. In ch. 35:8, 10 he speaks of a “way of holiness” over which “the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion.” In ch. 43:1 he comforts Israel with the thought that He who created her is the One who redeemed her, and in ch. 51:10, 11 he declares that the redeemed will “come with singing unto Zion.” See also chs. 44:6, 23; 52:3.

A city not forsaken. See on v. 4. Zion had sinned, and because of her sins the Lord had allowed judgments to fall upon her. She thought herself forsaken and forgotten by the Lord (chs. 49:14; 54:6, 7), but Isaiah brings a message of comfort and reassurance (see on ch. 40:1).