Christ as Covenant: "The day of salvation"

On Isaiah 49:8, Edward J. Young says, “The day of salvation (Paul quotes this in 2 Cor. 6:2) is the day when God will accomplish salvation for His people. Day here is not to be taken literally, but is equivalent to time. Salvation expresses the same thought as time of favor, but more exactly. The time of favor is one in which the salvation of God will be seen. At that time God will help the servant. This and the preceding parallel verb refer to continuous action rather than to an act performed once for all. They give a hint of what is to follow in chapter fifty-three, namely, that at the time when God accomplishes His salvation, the servant will be in need of help.

“The words time and day are significant, for they make clear that God does not act capriciously or haphazardly. At the time deter­mined He performs His work. Our Lord expressed the same thought when at the wedding feast at Cana He remarked, ‘My hour is not yet come.’

“…That the servant should be a covenant is the grand and central point of the passage, for it expresses the end God had in mind in forming him. This is followed by a statement of the purpose for which the servant is made a covenant of the people. As far as syntax is concerned, the subject of the infinitives may be either the servant or God. In the light of the context, with its strong emphasis upon the preparation of the servant, it would seem best to construe as subject the servant.

"Under the imagery of the restoration of a devastated land, the gift of salvation is described. The description reflects upon the division of the land under Joshua, and leans upon the expressions used in verse 6. ‘To raise up the land’ has primary reference to the land of Palestine, and the parallel expression ‘desolate inheri­tances’ reflects upon the desolation that has come upon the land of promise. These inheritances had been distributed by lot under Joshua (cf. Josh. 13ff.). The reference is not merely to the south­ern kingdom but to the entire land. The picture refers primarily not to the return from the exile, but to the reestablishment of the Davidic kingdom under the Messiah, when all the true seed of Abraham will receive their promised inheritance. – Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah, pp. 278, 279