“After Many Days Shall They Be Visited”
Isaiah 24:22
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:
“Isaiah says, ‘to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.’ (Isa. 61:1.) Reference is here made, not to the freeing of mortal men from any imprisonment, but to the ministry of freedom and pardon which was prepared for the departed dead. Jesus’s mission was not alone to those then living; He was also to carry the gospel, the glad tidings of salvation, to the spirits in prison. Those who had been ‘gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit,’ those who had been ‘shut up in the prison,’ were, ‘after many days,’ to be visited by Him who held the key for their release. (Isa. 24:22.)
“While His crucified body lay in the tomb, Jesus ‘went and preached unto the spirits in prison’ (1 Pet. 3:18–20; 4:6), announcing in their hearing that through baptism for the dead and other vicarious ordinances He had provided the means ‘which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.’ (D&C 128:19–25.)”
(Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:161.)
