These verses provide a refreshing description of the peacefulness of the millennial reign of Christ (compare D&C 101:24–32). The Messiah’s kingdom will far exceed the peace of any and all mortal kingdoms. All enmity and hostility will cease. As in the beginning, animals and humans will be helpful to each other. “A little child shall lead them” reminds us of the Savior’s injunction to become as little children.
During Zion’s Camp, while journeying from Kirtland to Missouri, the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote: “In pitching my tent we found three … prairie rattlesnakes, which the brethren were about to kill, but I said, ‘Let them alone—don’t hurt them! How will the serpent ever lose its venom, while the servants of God possess the same disposition, and continue to make war upon it? Men must become harmless before the brute creation, and when men lose their vicious dispositions and cease to destroy the animal race, the lion and the lamb can dwell together, and the sucking child can play with the serpent in safety.’” 63