Each passage in Isaiah matches a story in the Bible in order. In matching stories in the Bible Isaiah selects the stories he wants the reader to consider, a thread from the larger Bible. The result, in addition to revealing the proper sequence of the books, is a unique treatment by Isaiah of many familiar stories in the Bible.
Every book in the Bible uniquely matches a chapter in the book of Isaiah. The rest of this page offers a sampling of those matches with brief explanation so you can see how this idea works.
No one would expect Genesis to be anything other than the first book of the Bible, but God has attested in Isaiah chapter 1 that Genesis is the first book of the Bible. Isaiah chapter 1 matches stories from the first four chapters of Genesis with a focus on the Garden and Cain.
Exodus sits in slot 2 of the book order as expected. Isaiah chapter 2 matches stories in the second half of Exodus beginning with meeting God at the mountain and the law going forth.
Leviticus matches into the first half of Isaiah chapter 3. The focus is on the ordination of Aaron and his sons as priests and events surrounding.
The book of Numbers matches the second half of Isaiah chapter 3 and Isaiah chapter 4. Numbers sits in slot 4 of the book order. The focus is on Miriam and the second census.
Deuteronomy matches Isaiah 5 with a focus on the song Moses sang to Israel and the blessings he spoke over the tribes of Israel.
Joshua matches Isaiah 6 wonderfully. The matches focus on the events surrounding the fall of Jericho and the contract at the end of the book.
The story of Daniel is fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 39. Thus Daniel sits in slot 39 of the book order as the last book of the Old Testament. That Daniel is the end of the Old Testament is curious considering it's regularly studied in tandem with Revelation, the last book of the New Testament.
The Gospel of John takes slot 40 in the book order, the first book of the New Testament. John begins with the words "In the beginning" as an echo to Genesis, the first book of the Bible, so it makes sense for John to be the beginning of the New Testament. The matches between John and Isaiah 40 are numerous and span across the entire Gospel.
Isaiah 41 maps into the first four chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. The matches begin with Abraham and cover stories like the temptation of Jesus.