This chapter Isaiah 6:1-13 contains a very sublime description of the manifestation of Yahweh to Isaiah, and of a solemn commission to him to declare his purposes to the Jews. It has been supposed by many to be a solemn "inauguration" to the prophetic office, and to have been the "first" of his prophecies. But this supposition is not to be considered as just. It is evident Isaiah 1:1 that he prophesied "before" the death of Uzziah, and there is reason to suppose that the order of "time" is observed in the previous chapters; see the Introduction, Section 2. The most probable supposition of the occasion of this prophecy, is this, that the people were extremely guilty; that they were strongly indisposed to listen to the message of the prophet, and that he was, therefore, favored with this extraordinary commission in order to give his message more success and higher authority in the minds of the people. It is a new commission to make his message as impressive as possible - as if it came direct from the lips of the Almighty. The Jews say, that for this pretension that he had seen Yahweh, he was sawn asunder by "Manasseh." And to this fact Paul has been supposed to refer in Hebrews 11:37, where he says of those who had been eminent in faith, 'they were sawn asunder;' see the Introduction, Section 2.
This vision is expressed in the language appropriate to Eastern monarchs. God is represented as sitting on a "throne," and attended by ministers, here called seraphim. His throne is elevated, and the posture of sitting denotes dignity and majesty. The language of the description is taken from the temple. The image is that of God sitting in the most holy place. Surrounding him are seen the seraphim, and the cloud filling the temple. Isaiah is represented as without the temple, near the altar. The great altar of sacrifice stood directly in front of the temple, so that if the doors of the temple had been open, and the veil separating the holy from the most holy place had been withdrawn, he would have had a distinct view of the mercy-seat. That veil between is supposed to be withdrawn, and he is permitted directly to contemplate the sacred and solemn manifestation made in the immediate dwelling-place of God. The chapter comprises, properly, three parts.
I. The vision, Isaiah 6:1-4. Yahweh is seen upon a throne, clad in the manner of an ancient monarch, with a robe and a train which filled the whole temple. He sits as a king, and is adorned in the robes of royalty, Isaiah 6:1. He is encompassed with ministering spirits - with the seraphim, in the manner of a magnificent king, Isaiah 6:2. They are seen, by the prophet, to be solemnly engaged in his worship, and to stand in the attitude of the most profound veneration, Isaiah 6:3. So awful and sublime was the worship, that even the posts of the temple were moved; the whole sacred edifice trembled at the presence of God, and at the voice of those who were engaged in his praise; and the whole temple was filled with the symbol of the divine presence and majesty, Isaiah 6:4.
II. The "effect on the prophet," Isaiah 6:5-7. He was overcome with a sense of his unworthiness, and felt that he could not live. He had seen Yahweh, and he felt that he was a ruined man, Isaiah 6:5. Yet one of the seraphim flew to the altar, and bore thence a live coal, and touched his lips, and assured him that his sin was taken away, and that he was pardoned, Isaiah 6:6-7.
III. The "commission of the prophet," Isaiah 6:8-13. God inquires who will go for him to the people, and bear his message, and the prophet expresses his readiness to do it, Isaiah 6:8. The nature of the message is stated, Isaiah 6:9-10. The "duration" - the state of things which he predicted would follow from this - is asked, and the answer is returned, Isaiah 6:11-13. It was to be until utter desolation should spread over the land, and the mass of the nation was cut off, and all were destroyed, except the small portion which it was necessary to preserve, in order to prevent the nation from becoming wholly extinct.

This chapter, by a particular designation of Isaiah to the prophetic office, Isaiah 6:1-8, introduces, with great solemnity, a declaration of the whole tenor of the Diving conduct in reference to his people, who, on account of their unbelief and impenitence, should for a very long period be given up to a judicial blindness and hardness of heart, Isaiah 6:9, Isaiah 6:10; and visited with such calamities as would issue on the total desolation of their country, and their general dispersion, Isaiah 6:11, Isaiah 6:12. The prophet adds, however, that under their repeated dispersions, (by the Chaldeans, Romans, etc.), a small remnant would be preserved as a seed from which will be raised a people, in whom will be fulfilled all the Divine promises, Isaiah 6:13.
As this vision seems to contain a solemn designation of Isaiah to the prophetic office, it is by most interpreters thought to be the first in order of his prophecies. But this perhaps may not be so; for Isaiah is said, in the general title of his prophecies, to have prophesied in the time of Uzziah, whose acts, first and last, he wrote, 2-Chronicles 26:22; which is usually done by a contemporary prophet; and the phrase, in the year that Uzziah died, probably means after the death of Uzziah; as the same phrase (Isaiah 14:28) means after the death of Ahaz. Not that Isaiah's prophecies are placed in exact order of time. Chapters 2, 3, Isaiah 4:1-6, 5, seem by internal marks to be antecedent to chap. 1; they suit the time of Uzziah, or the former part of Jotham's reign; whereas chap. 1 can hardly be earlier than the last years of Jotham. See note on Isaiah 1:7, and Isaiah 2:1 (note). This might be a new designation, to introduce more solemnly a general dedication of the whole course of God's dispensations in regard to his people and the fates of the nation; which are even now still depending, and will not be fully accomplished till the final restoration of Israel.
In this vision the ideas are taken in general from royal majesty, as displayed by the monarchs of the East; for the prophet could not represent the ineffable presence of God by any other than sensible and earthly images. The particular scenery of it is taken from the temple. God is represented as seated on his throne above the ark, in the most holy place, where the glory appeared above the cherubim, surrounded by his attendant ministers. This is called by God himself "the place of his throne, and the place of the soles of his feet," Ezekiel 43:7. "A glorious throne exalted of old, is the place of our sanctuary," saith the prophet Jeremiah, chap, Jeremiah 17:12. The very posture of sitting is a mark of state and solemnity: Sed et ipsum verbum sedere regni significat potestatem, saith Jerome, Comment. in Ephesians 1:20. See note on Isaiah 3:1 (note). St. John, who has taken many sublime images from the prophets of the Old Testament, and in particular from Isaiah, hath exhibited the same scenery, drawn out into a greater number of particulars; Revelation 4:1-11.
The veil, separating the most holy place from the holy or outermost part of the temple, is here supposed to be taken away; for the prophet, to whom the whole is exhibited, is manifestly placed by the altar of burnt-offering, at the entrance of the temple, (compare Ezekiel 43:5, Ezekiel 43:6), which was filled with the train of the robe, the spreading and overflowing of the Divine glory. The Lord upon the throne, according to St. John (John 12:41), was Christ; and the vision related to his future kingdom when the veil of separation was to be removed, and the whole earth was to be filled with the glory of God, revealed to all mankind: which is likewise implied in the hymn of the seraphim, the design of which is, saith Jerome on the place, Ut mysterium Trinitatis in una Divinitate demonstrent; et nequaquam templum Judaicum, sicut prius, sed omnem terram illius gloria plenam esse testentur; "That they may point out the mystery of the Trinity in one Godhead; and that the Jewish temple alone should not be, as formerly, the place of the Divine glory, for the whole earth should be filled with it." It relates, indeed, primarily to the prophet's own time, and the obduration of the Jews of that age, and their punishment by the Babylonish captivity; but extends in its full attitude to the age of Messiah, and the blindness of the Jews to the Gospel, (see Matthew 13:14; John 12:40; Acts 28:26; Romans 11:8), the desolation of their country by the Romans, and their being rejected by God. That nevertheless a holy seed - a remnant, should be preserved; and that the nation should spread out and flourish again from the old stock. - L.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 6
This chapter contains a vision of the glory and majesty of Christ, the mission and commission of the prophet, and the destruction of the Jews. In the vision may be observed the time of it, and the object seen; who is described by the throne on which he sat, Isaiah 6:1 and by his ministers about him; and these, by their name, by their situation, by their wings and the use of them, and by their employment, Isaiah 6:2 and by the effects their crying to one another had upon the place where they were, Isaiah 6:4 and next follows the effect the whole vision had on the prophet, which threw him into great distress of mind; and the relief he had by one of the seraphim, and the manner of it, Isaiah 6:6 upon which a question being put, concerning sending some person, the prophet makes answer, expressing his readiness to go, Isaiah 6:8 when a commission is given him, and the message he is sent with is declared, Isaiah 6:9 whereupon he asks how long it would be the case of the Jews mentioned in the message he was sent with; and he is told it would continue until the utter destruction of them, Isaiah 6:11 and yet, for the comfort of him and other saints, it is intimated that there would be a remnant among them, according to the election of grace, Isaiah 6:13.

(Isaiah 6:1-8) The vision which Isaiah beheld in the temple.
(Isaiah 6:9-13) The Lord declares the blindness to come upon the Jewish nation, and the destruction which would follow.