Verse 15 says, "Should the ax glorify itself above him who chops with it?/Or should the saw magnify itself above him who wields it?/It would be like the rod wielding him who lifts it up,/Like the staff lifting up him who is not wood." Here God is saying that it was He who used Assyria as an ax to chop His people, but now this ax is glorifying itself above the One who chopped with it. Jehovah, therefore, would judge the king of Assyria, as described in verses 16 through 19. He would send leanness to the fat ones of the king of Assyria, and under his glory He would kindle a kindling, like the kindling of fire. Furthermore, the Light of Israel would become a fire, and His Holy One a flame; and it would burn and devour his thorns and his thistles in one day. The glory of his forest and of his garden land Jehovah would destroy, both soul and body; and the king of Assyria would be like a sick man wasting away.
The king of Assyria moved terrifyingly through many nations and eventually swung his hands over the mountain of the city of Zion, over the hill of Jerusalem (vv. 28-32).
The Lord Jehovah of hosts would lop off the boughs with an awful crash. Those which were tall in height would be hewn down, and those which were lofty would be laid low. He would chop away the forest thickets with an iron ax, and Lebanon would fall at the hands of the majestic One (vv. 33-34).
Isaiah 10:20-27 speaks of the return and release of Israel. After the judgment on Israel and the judgment on Assyria, there would be the return and release of Israel.