John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 64:10

"Thy holy cities are become a wilderness, Zion is become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation." — Isaiah 64:10 (ASV)

The cities of thy holiness. The Church again recounts her miseries, so that she may move God to mercy and obtain pardon. She says that the cities have been reduced to “a wilderness;” and, for the sake of amplification, adds that “Zion is a desert,” because it was the royal residence, where God wished that people should call upon Him. She also adds Jerusalem, in which Zion was located; for it seemed shameful that a city, which God had consecrated to Himself, should be ruined and destroyed by enemies.

She calls them “cities of holiness,” because, just as the Lord had sanctified a people, so He also wished that the cities, and even the whole country, should be consecrated to Himself. Therefore, since the cities were dedicated to God, they are justly called “cities of His holiness;” for in them God reigned, and people called upon Him. In the same manner, we may today apply the term “cities of God’s holiness” to those cities that, laying aside superstitions, worship Him in a sincere and right manner.