Isaiah 4:5-6

Isaiah 4:5-6

[5] will create  upon every dwelling place  of mount  Zion,  and upon her assemblies,  a cloud  and smoke  by day,  and the shining  of a flaming  fire  by night:  for upon all the glory  shall be a defence.  [6] And there shall be a tabernacle  for a shadow  in the daytime  from the heat,  and for a place of refuge,  and for a covert  from storm  and from rain. 

What does Isaiah 4:5-6 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

God definitely would not abandon His people Israel in the coming judgment, but would share His presence with them and care for them by providing protection and guidance. Failure in leadership marked Israel in Isaiah"s day ( Isaiah 3:2-7), but God Himself would lead the nation in the future. In the past, God had done this by sheltering the wilderness wanderers with a cloudy pillar, but in the future a similar covering would protect the dwellers at Mount Zion. The daughters of Jerusalem tried desperately to secure husbands ( Isaiah 4:1), but God Himself would finally provide a marriage canopy (chamber) for His beloved in the future.
The same fire that judged His people, God Himself, would warm and protect them in all of their circumstances (cf. Psalm 91). He would control the forces of nature that the pagans believed the gods controlled. The Israelites saw a literal cloudy pillar in the wilderness, and perhaps this one in the future will be literal too, symbolic of His presence.
This oracle ( Isaiah 2:1 to Isaiah 4:6) reveals events that would happen in a "day" yet future from Isaiah"s perspective. History has shown that some of the predictions of judgment found partial fulfillment in the exiles of Israel that preceded Messiah"s appearing. However, most of the judgment, and all the blessing connected to Messiah, lies in the future from our perspective (cf. Matthew 24:4-30). It is mainly the Tribulation, and Messiah"s blessing of Israel in the Millennium to follow, that is in view here.