Isaiah 35:8
And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;
it will be for those who walk on that Way. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10
When God comes to save us, “a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness” (vs 8). Today, we are very familiar with highways. We use them probably most every day. The term “highway” originates from Old English combining the words “high” and “way,” meaning “main road” or “main way.”
As opposed to other types of roads, a highway specifically refers to a public road, often elevated, that connects towns and facilitates travel. The “high” in highway likely stems from the Roman practice of building roads on slightly raised ground for better drainage making the road easier to travel on in wet conditions.
This highway called the Way of Holiness is only mentioned by name this one time in all of Scripture. This highway would be there in the kingdom of the Messiah. Or better yet, this highway would be the Messiah:
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
The early Christians were not called Christians. They were called those who belong to “the Way.” This seems appropriate based on who Isaiah tells us will and will not be on this highway:
- The unclean and wicked fools will not be on it.
- No lion or ravenous beast will be found on it.
- Only the redeemed will walk on it.
It’s possible there may be a literal highway in heaven leading to God’s throne, it seems clear to me that this Way of Holiness is Jesus. John the Baptist was sent by God to prepare the way for the Lord. John’s mission was to point people to this highway:
“A voice of one calling:
‘In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God’” (Isa 40:3, John 1:23).
Jesus came to make a way to God for us. Jesus took on our sin and bore our punishment so that the veil was torn providing us access to the throne of God. The author of Hebrews tells us:
“We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body” (Heb 10:19-20).
Jesus built this highway for us when he went to the cross. It was a new and living way. Only the redeemed will walk on it. The unclean cannot be on this highway. We must be washed clean by the blood of Jesus to gain access to it. And those who are on it come to God with singing.
The Way of Holiness is a highway of joy. The people on this road travel it while singing a song of gladness. There is no more sorrow because it has fled away. This road leads to the throne of God. We aren’t there yet, but when we get there, it will be a day of great joy and gladness!
Christ in the Old Testament 
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