Restoration.
Isaiah prophesies of a time after Babylonian exile when Jerusalem will be restored. The city will be protected and great once again. The temple will once more be used for God’s glory. People will come to Jerusalem to conduct business but more importantly they will come to worship God. Those who are typically excluded from worship will share fully in worship (56:1-8). Restoring something takes work. It involves envisioning possibilities. It includes refusing to accept the current state and working to make things new. Only God could envision a restored Jerusalem. Only God could work to make things new. If it is true for an ancient city, it is also true for people. God promises to take something old and make it new for each of us. His assurance is that through him the old is gone and the new lives. God wants us to let go of the old and find our purpose in the new.