What does Isaiah 8:16 mean?

Beginning with this verse, commentators differ about who might be speaking. Some suggest these are the words and thoughts of Isaiah, himself, saying the time has come to seal up his writings and to put them away. Then, at some later date when his prophecy has been fulfilled, his disciples or students can pull out the sealed writings to show that Isaiah's revelation was true.

Others say that this is the Lord speaking: that He is telling Isaiah to take the revelations He has given to the prophet and to seal them in the sense of affirming them as God's Word. In other words, God is saying to Isaiah, mark these words as the very word of God.

Finally, the writer of Hebrews 2:13 quotes Isaiah 8:17 and 18 as being spoken by Christ. Some scholars suggest that it is the Messiah who is speaking in this verse and in the following verses through the prophet Isaiah. Most scholars, however, show that Isaiah is applying God's revelation to his own time. And in the book of Hebrews, Christ quotes Isaiah to connect that time to the events of the future.