2 Nephi 16: Here Am I, Send Me
I have a piece of cherry that has been sitting in my shop for three years. The grain is straight and the color is deep, but it has a rough spot on one edge where a branch used to be. I keep walking past it because I know that before I can use it, I have to cut that section out and work the area down. Cherry with a rough edge still needs cleaning up before it is ready to use as lumber.
2 Nephi 16 is the chapter where Isaiah gets cleaned up. It is a direct quote of Isaiah 6, and it is one of the clearest call narratives in scripture. The year King Uzziah died, Isaiah went to the temple and saw something that changed him permanently.
The Vision of the Lord in the Temple
The chapter opens with Isaiah seeing the Lord seated on a throne, high and lifted up. The train of His robe fills the temple. Above the throne stand seraphim, each with six wings. They use two to cover their faces, two to cover their feet and two to fly.
And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. (2 Nephi 16:3)
The doors shake at the sound of their voices and the temple fills with smoke. The scene is overwhelming on purpose. Isaiah is receiving a direct encounter with the kind of power that makes the ground move.
What Does It Mean to Be a Man of Unclean Lips?
Isaiah's reaction comes fast. Woe is me, he says, I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. He sees the King and his first thought is about what he is not.
I think about this when I am working on a piece that has more flaws than I noticed in the store. The light in the shop shows every crack and every uneven surface instead of hiding them. Isaiah is standing in the light of the temple and the light shows him what he really looks like without flattery.
The phrase unclean lips is worth sitting with because lips are what prophets use. Isaiah is looking at a holy calling and realizing how unprepared he is for it. He says he is not ready, and he knows it.
Meaning of the Live Coal in Isaiah 6
A seraph flies to the altar and takes a live coal from the fire with tongs. He touches Isaiah's mouth and says, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
The coal comes from the altar, where the sacrifices happen. The vision ties purification directly to the sacrificial system, which in the Book of Mormon context points toward the Atonement. The coal burns away the thing that made Isaiah feel unfit.
This is not a comfortable image. A live coal on the lips is pain, and the purification process hurts because it has to. You cannot sand a rough edge without removing material. The removal is what makes the piece usable.
The article on 2 Nephi 15: The Wild Grapes and the Six Woes covers the chapter right before this one, where Isaiah uses the vineyard to describe what happens when people stop producing good fruit.
Isaiah 6 Here Am I Send Me Meaning
After the purification comes the call. The Lord asks whom He should send and who will go for us. Isaiah answers in four simple words.
Here am I; send me.
That is the whole response with no qualifications and no requests for details. Isaiah does not even ask what the assignment is. He just says he is available.
Here is what I keep coming back to. Isaiah had just seen himself as unfit and had admitted he was a man of unclean lips. Then the moment the Lord asks for someone, he volunteers. His guilt was taken away and his fear was replaced with willingness.
How Does Isaiah 6 Apply to Modern Callings?
The rest of the chapter is hard. The Lord tells Isaiah that the people will hear but not understand and will see but not perceive. Isaiah's mission will not produce obvious results. He is called to preach to a people who will not listen until the land is desolate.
That makes the willingness harder to admire. Isaiah said send me before he knew the assignment would be grim. He did not get to opt out once he heard the terms.
I think this is where the chapter connects to everyday discipleship. Most callings do not come with a vision of the temple shaking. They come in a quiet conversation or a note on a screen. But the pattern is the same. You see what you are, you let something change you, and then you say yes before you know what yes will cost.
The article on D&C 37: When the Carpenter Stops to Sharpen covers a similar idea about preparation preceding the work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the seraph use a coal from the altar to purify Isaiah's lips?
The altar was the place of sacrifice. Using a coal from the altar connects purification to the sacrificial system, which foreshadows the Atonement. The coal symbolically burns away the impurity that made Isaiah feel unfit to speak for God.
What does it mean that the people would hear but not understand?
It describes spiritual hardness. The people would hear Isaiah's words physically but their hearts would be closed to the meaning. It is the tragedy of a people who have agency and choose not to use it.
Is Isaiah's response a model for everyone?
Yes. The phrase represents complete willingness to be used by God regardless of the difficulty. It shows that the proper response to a call is not a negotiation but an offering. The courage is in the brevity. He does not ask where or how long or what success looks like.
Why did Isaiah need to be purified before being called?
The vision shows that standing in the presence of divine holiness reveals human imperfection. The purification was preparation, not punishment. Isaiah could not be sent until he was cleansed because the message required a messenger who understood his own dependence on grace.
I cut the rough section out of that cherry board last week. It took ten minutes with a handsaw and a plane. The piece is ready now. I just had to remove the part that was not working and smooth the edge where the cut was made.
Isaiah had his rough edge removed with a coal. It sounds worse than a plane blade, but the result was the same. He was ready. And when the question came, he was the one who answered.
— D.