Verse 10 says, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be" (Heb.). The scepter here denotes the scepter of the kingship or of the kingdom. Psalm 45:6 says, "The sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre." The scepter, a symbol of the kingdom, refers to the kingly authority of Christ. Thus, the scepter in verse 10 refers to Christ's kingdom, Christ's kingship. For the scepter never to depart from Judah means the kingship will never depart from Christ.
Hebrew poetry is written in pairs; hence, "the ruler's staff" in this verse is synonymous with "the sceptre." Undoubtedly the ruler here is Christ. The Hebrew word for ruler in this verse means lawgiver. Christ is the One who gives the law, for He has the staff and the scepter. He is the Ruler who has the authority, the staff and the scepter of the kingship.
This verse says that the ruler's staff will not depart from "between his feet." The words "between his feet" are a poetic term denoting seed or posterity. Thus, they refer to Judah's descendants. This means that the tribe of Judah will always have kings. According to 1 Chronicles 5:2, Judah has the kingship, and rulers come out of his posterity.
This authority will continue until Shiloh comes. The word Shiloh means "Peace bringer." Most good Bible teachers agree that Shiloh refers to Christ in His second coming. When Christ comes the second time, He will come as the Prince of peace, as the One who brings peace. At that time, the whole earth will be filled with peace.
Verse 10 also says, "And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be." The peoples here are equivalent to the nations. At the second coming of Christ, all nations will submit to Him and obey Him. Isaiah 2:1 through 3 and 11:10 indicate that from the beginning of the millennium at the Lord's second coming, all nations will obey Christ. They will come to Him to receive God's instructions.