That the altar is to be considered as a "monument" only is a supposition altogether far-fetched, and which can the less find any support in the isolated case, Josh. xxii., that that account clearly enough intimates how decidedly the existence of an altar furnishes a foundation for the supposition that sacrifices are to be offered up there, a supposition intimated by the very name in Hebrew. If it was meant to serve some other purpose, it would have been necessary expressly to state it, or, at least, some other place of sacrifice ought to have been assigned for the sacrifices mentioned in ver. 21. But as it stands, there cannot be any doubt that the altar here and the sacrifices there belong to one another. This passage under consideration is of no little consequence, inasmuch as it shows that, in other passages where a going up of the Gentiles to Jerusalem in the Messianic time is spoken of, as, _e.g._, chap. lxvi. 23, we must distinguish between the thought and the embodiment. The _pillar_ at the border bears an inscription by which the land is designated as the property of the Lord, just as it was the custom of the old eastern conquerors, and especially of the Egyptians, to erect such pillars in the conquered territories. Ver. 20. "_And it is for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: When they cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, He shall send them a Saviour and a Deliverer; and he shall deliver them._" Altar and pillar, as a sign and witness of the confession to the Lord, are, at the same time, a guarantee of the deliverance to be granted by Him. According to _Gesenius_, the Prophet speaks "without a definite historical reference, of a saving or protecting angel." But we cannot think of an angel on account of the plain reference to the common formula in the Book of Judges, by which it is intimated that, as far as redemption is concerned, Egypt has been made a partaker of the privileges of the covenant-people. It is just this reference which has given rise to the general expression; but it is Christ who is meant; for the prophets, and especially Isaiah, are not cognizant of any other Saviour for the Gentile world [Pg 145] than of Him; and it is He who is suggested by the Messianic character of the whole description. Ver. 21. "_And the Lord is known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians know the Lord in that day, and offer sacrifice and oblation, and vow vows unto the Lord, and perform them._" Ver. 22. "_And the Lord smiteth the Egyptians so that He healeth them, and they are converted to the Lord, and He shall be entreated by them, and shall heal them._" We have here simply a recapitulation. The prophet describes anew the transition from the state of wrath to that of grace--not, as _Drechsler_ thinks, what they experience in the latter. Upon Egypt is fulfilled what, in Deut. xxxii. 39, has been said in reference to Israel.