The book of Isaiah is outstanding in its brilliance of style, its poetic power, and its foretaste of the hope of the gospel. It tells us how God himself has provided the highway to holiness for those who have been ‘redeemed’ or ‘ransomed’. These are images which evoke the Exodus from Egypt, and foreshadow Christ’s achievement at the cross. There is tangible joy for the reader in Isaiah’s portrayal of judgment – rebuilding within the demolition, the new replacing the old. In Isaiah’s masterpiece, both national and world events reveal God’s hand, and its good news is the very hope of the world.

Barry Webb invites his readers to see Isaiah’s compelling vision of God’s glory, and the wonder of access to him. Writing this book, for him, was an unforgettable flight: ‘I have soared like an eagle into the heavens and seen the glory of God, and with new eyes I have seen the world and my place in it.’