And he will destroy - Hebrew, ‘He will swallow up,’ that is, he will abolish, remove, or take away.
In this mountain the face of the covering - In mount Zion, or in Jerusalem. This would be done in Jerusalem, or on the mountains of which Jerusalem was a part, where the great transactions of the plan of redemption would be accomplished. The word ‘face’ here is used as it is frequently among the Hebrews, where the face of a thing denotes its aspect. or appearance, and then the thing itself. Thus ‘the face of God’ is put for God himself; the ‘face of the earth’ for the earth itself; and the ‘face of the vail’ means the veil itself, or the appearance of the veil. To cover the head or the face was a common mode of expressing grief (see 2Sa 15:30; 2 Samuel 19:5; Esther 6:12). It is probable that the expression here is taken from this custom, and the veil over the nations here is to be understood as expressive of the ignorance, superstition, crime, and wretchedness that covered the earth.