These verses further describe the millennial reign of Christ for which his servants are preparing. Nephi, in quoting these verses, added “And then” (2 Nephi 30:12). The enmity between animals and between man and animals is verified in modern revelation. “And in that day the enmity of man, and the enmity of beasts, yea, the enmity of all flesh, shall cease from before my face” (D&C 101:26). In this section, the Lord enlarges upon the millennial conditions (101:27– 34), but they will not be discussed here.
“The Earth Full of Knowledge”
The end of the destruction foretold in the first part of this verse seems to be a summary of the previous three verses. The rest of the verse gives the reason for this happy state.
Joseph Smith gave a different rendering of the last part of verse nine—”the earth will be filled with sacred knowledge, as the waters cover the great deep” (TPJS, 93)—and indicated that this prophecy would be fulfilled after Israel is gathered. President Joseph Fielding Smith has stated, “If the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters do the sea, then it must be universally received.” Elder Orson Pratt taught that this great knowledge which was to cover the earth (v. 9) was to include a restoration of all the records which had been kept in former dispensations, and he enumerated many of these records (see JD, 16:47ff.; see also D&C 5:9; Helaman 3:13–15; 3 Nephi 26:8–12; Ether 3:25; 4:7).
Elder Pratt also taught that:
The earth will be made new, and great knowledge will be imparted to the inhabitants thereof, as predicted in the 11 chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah. The knowledge of God will then cover the earth as the waters cover the mighty deep. There will be no place of ignorance, no place of darkness, no place for those that will not serve God. Why? Because Jesus, the Great Creator, and also the Great Redeemer, will be himself on the earth, and his holy angels will be on the earth, and all the resurrected Saints that have died in former dispensations will all come forth, and they will be on the earth. What a happy earth this creation will be, when this purifying process shall come, and the earth be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the great deep! [JD, 21:324–35]