As the Waters Cover the Sea

"In chapter 11 [Isaiah], anticipating the 'new creation' passage in chapters 65 and 66, the prophet declares that 'the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.' As it stands, that is a remarkable statement. How can the waters cover the sea? They are the sea. It looks as though God intends to flood the universe with Himself, as though the universe, the entire cosmos, was designed as a receptacle for His love. We might even suggest, as part of a Christian aesthetic, that the world is beautiful not just because it hauntingly reminds us of its Creator but also because it is pointing forward: it is designed to be filled, flooded, drenched in God, as a chalice is beautiful not least because of what we know it is designed to contain or as a violin is beautiful not least because we know the music of which it is capable..."
~N. T. Wright