John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 44:27

"that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers;" — Isaiah 44:27 (ASV)

Saying to the deep. This is generally considered to be an allegorical description of Babylon, and I certainly do not deny that it is included; yet I cannot think of limiting it to Babylon, for I prefer to view it simply as denoting any unexpected change. He shows that some great revolution will be necessary, as if the people must be drawn out of the depths of the sea, but declares that God will easily surmount every obstacle, for he can easily make the deep dry, and dry up the rivers.

In my opinion, he rather appears to allude to that former redemption (Exodus 14:29), when the Lord brought the people out of Egypt through the Red Sea; as if he had said, “I did this for your fathers, and therefore you should hope for the same thing from me, and not imagine that a return to your native land will be closed against you.”