I think this verse is partly inserted here to let us know that Abraham did not just stoically and fatalistically walk through this without any feeling. Why does it say that he rose up early in the morning and he saddled his donkey and he chopped the wood?
I want to bring to your attention that Abraham was pretty old by this time and besides, and perhaps even more importantly, he was a very rich man. Even the Bible calls him exceedingly rich. But this verse tells you that he got up early, he saddled his own donkey and he chopped the wood. A man that had an army of three hundred eighteen trained soldiers must have had hundreds of servants who could have saddled his donkey and chopped the wood. But the Bible very specifically says that this rich, old man did it himself.
Now, why? Was it because his mind was in turmoil and he could not sleep? So he got up early because His mind was churning through the night? He chopped the wood and he saddled the donkey thinking, maybe, that if he kept his mind busy, kept his hands busy, that he would be able to get his mind off what he knew was going to happen three days hence?
No hesitation in obeying God's order! He did not try to stall. He rose early in the morning. This boggles my mind—the willingness to obey God. I think more than any other man that comes to my mind, he understood his position relative to God. Abraham was a great man, but he was just a man. And he fully appreciated who and what God is. God is God. Abraham was a man.
He then splits the wood by himself for the sacrifice. And again, think of what is going through his mind as he is splitting this wood on which he is going to sacrifice his son. I cannot even begin to imagine his state of mind.
I think that these three verses show that Abraham fully expected [unclear, cut off].
If we take those verses at face value, he made every preparation to sacrifice his son, and yet he also expected to bring him back. But how, if he was sacrificed as God said? The answer is supplied in Hebrews 11, where it shows that Abraham’s resolution was such that Isaac was as good as dead. But Abraham received him back as it says, in a figure, that is, by means of a resurrection.
