Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 60:11

"Thy gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive." — Isaiah 60:11 (ASV)

Therefore thy gates shall be open continually — The main idea here is, probably, that the influx from the pagan world, and the consequent great number of converts, would be so large that the gates would need to remain open always.

It is also possible that the prophet intended to describe that time as a period of security and peace. The gates of cities were closed in times of war and at night to guard them from danger. But in those future times, peace would be so prevalent, and the reasons for the multitude of strangers coming from all parts of the world would be such, that the gates could be left open, and the city unguarded at all times. The meaning is:

1. That immense multitudes shall enter the true church from the pagan world.

2. That the gospel will be constantly and unceasingly offered to people. The doors of the church shall at no time be closed. By day and by night, at all seasons and in all places, people may come and obtain salvation. None shall be excluded because the gates are closed to them, none because they are strangers and have come from distant lands, none because there will be no room, and none because the influx will be so great that the provisions of mercy will be exhausted.

3. It will be a time of safety when the world is brought under the influence and dominion of the Prince of Peace. There will be no need to close the gates of cities or to build walls around them. There will be no need to guard against hostile armies or the intrusions of hordes of bandits. There will be no need to guard against the fraud, oppressions, and dishonest arts of other people. If the principles of the true religion prevailed everywhere, there would be no need for walls for cities, or gates, or bars; no need for ramparts, ships of war, and fortifications; no need for bolts, locks, and iron chests to guard our property.

No true Christian needs to guard himself or his property against another true Christian. No lock, no bolt, no wall, no gate, no iron safe has been made to guard against a man who is a sincere friend of the Redeemer. They are made to guard against wicked people; and when universal truth and righteousness prevail, they could be left to rust and rot from disuse.

If the principles of Christianity were everywhere diffused, the walls of all cities could be allowed to fall down, their gates to stand open until they decayed, ships of war to lie in the dock until they sank to the bottom, forts and fleets to be dismantled. The whole business of making locks and shackles, and of building prisons and manufacturing instruments of war, would then come to an end.

That men may bring unto thee — So many shall be coming with the wealth of the Gentiles, that the gates shall be continually open.

The forces of the Gentiles — The wealth of the pagan nations (see the notes at Isaiah 60:5).

And that their kings may be brought — Lowth renders this, ‘That their kings may come pompously attended.’ Noyes translates it, ‘May come with their retinues.’ The Chaldee renders it, ‘And their kings be brought bound,’ or in chains.

But the Hebrew word used here (נהוּגים nehûgîm) denotes simply that they would be led or conducted in any way. The idea is that they would be induced by the force of truth to come and devote themselves to the service of God. They might be expected, indeed, to come, as Lowth says, pompously attended, but this idea is not in the Hebrew text.