And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them [the Assyrian]; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God (Isa. 10:20-21).

Isaiah spoke often of this remnant to return, referring both to a remnant of the seed of Israel which has been scattered over the earth for thousands of years and a remnant of covenant Israel, or those who have been adopted in through baptism. From these two groups, a purified people will come forth to build up Zion and redeem Jerusalem. So dedicated was Isaiah to this concept that he named one of his sons “Shear-jashub,” which means “The remnant shall return” (Isa. 7:3). Although the term “righteous remnant” is never used in the King James Version of the Bible, it is nevertheless appropriate, as the people who qualify to build up Zion and Jerusalem will be worthy of Christ’s personal presence (Moses 7:62-63; D&C 45:48-53).

Many of these righteous people will have been previously refined in the Lord’s “furnace of affliction” (Isa. 48:10), though a fortunate few will be led away early to places of refuge where they will come to know the Lord, even in his glory (Isa. 35:2). Those who do experience the Lord’s “day of vengeance” (Isa. 61:2) will be subject not only to earthquakes and other natural disasters, but to the violence and oppression of the “beast,” who will cause all people to conform to his edicts, even to worshiping him and taking his mark upon them (Rev. 13:4, 16-17). Because of this, some of these previously inconstant members will turn to God and pray to him day and night for deliverance. After much suffering, their prayers will be heard and they will find miraculous paths to deliverance, and eventually to Zion (Isa. 58:3-12, 20:21).

This righteous remnant will be guided to Zion by revelation and by the Lord’s latter-day servant. Because this servant will hold the keys of the kingdom (D&C 113:5-6), he will also direct other servants to assist in this work, almost certainly including 144,000 high priests who will be “ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn” (D&C 77:11). Having power given them “by the angels” will endow these high priests with all the tools necessary to preach the gospel and free the righteous from bondage and lead them to Zion—a literal Zion with a holy people who dwell in the presence of Christ.

In comparison to the inhabitants of the earth, however, and even to the numbers of covenant Israel, this remnant will be small, perhaps only a tenth—or even a tenth of tenth. When Isaiah was called as a prophet, he asked the Lord how long it would be before the covenant people had their eyes and ears opened so they could be converted “and be healed.”

Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof (Isa. 6:11-13).

The Lord tells Isaiah that “there shall be a tenth, and it shall return.” This would seem to imply that a tenth of the covenant people would return after the devastations of the last days, but then he adds “and shall be eaten… so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.” Therefore, it is possible that after this tenth is “eaten,” only a tenth of that tenth will be left, or a tenth of a tenth (see commentary for Isaiah 6:13). Whether it is a tenth or a tenth of a tenth, the fact is that few will become “the holy seed” who will dwell with Christ in Zion and be translated in preparation for the Millennium (see also Isa. 1:9). Whatever sacrifice is necessary to become part of that holy seed will be well worth it in a day when violence, terror, and calamity will rule the earth.