We have often heard this verse quoted with the little word "of" left out; but this changes the meaning altogether and misses the central point. If all Christ had seen had been the travail involved in His soul-suffering without seeing "of" that travail, or what it would accomplish, there would have been nothing to be satisfied with. But He saw that His sufferings and death would result in the eventual housing of every member of the elect family in heaven, and this was a source of great satisfaction to Him. His travail, as considered in the abstract, would have brought Him nothing but grief, but as viewed in the broad scope of its purpose and intent, He was satisfied with what He saw. 

    It is certain that He did indeed foresee the sufferings that lay ahead of Him before He went to the cross, and in His human nature He would have avoided that travail if there had been any way agreeable to the Father for Him to have done so, but He was perfectly submissive to His Father's will. We see Him in the garden of Gethsemane as He "began to be very sorrowful and very heavy" and said, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." He then prayed, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (See Matt. 26:37-39). 

    The end or outcome of His travail is spoken of in Heb. 12:2 as "the joy that was set before him." It was because of this joy that he "endured the cross, despising the shame." But if He had seen that even one of those for whom He suffered would be eternally lost, He could not have been "satisfied". 

    If you had ten children drowning and you saved all of them but one, would you be satisfied? No, indeed! You would be too grief-stricken over the loss of the one! Even so, if Christ had saved all of His children but one, He too could not have been satisfied. Praise be, He finished the work His Father gave Him to do, and as a result He will, in the last day, raise up all those the Father gave Him without the loss of one (See John 6:38-39).