Passage
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea which cannot be measured or numbered; and it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, it shall be said unto them, Sons of the living God.
Nearby Context
Hosea 1:8 And she weaned Lo-ruhamah; and she conceived and bore a son;
Hosea 1:9 and he said, Call his name Lo-ammi; for ye are not my people, and I will not be for you.
Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea which cannot be measured or numbered; and it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, it shall be said unto them, Sons of the living God.
Hosea 1:11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint themselves one head, and shall go up out of the land: for great is the day of Jizreel.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "number", "children", "israel", "shall", "sand", "measured", and "numbered". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "number" and "children", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 9's "and he said Call his name Lo-ammi..." into verse 11's "And the children of Judah and the...", so "number" and "children" belong inside that flow. In Hosea context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "number" and "children" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.