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Although many readers may predict that "The Last Question" will end with the acknowledgement that entropy can never be reversed, the story's conclusion may be somewhat surprising. After trillions of years spent agonizing over a way to answer humanity's final question and reverse entropy, "it came to pass that AC learned how to reverse the direction of entropy." AC, which now "encompassed all of what had once been a Universe," is able to recreate the universe, fervently declaring, "LET THERE BE LIGHT." This phrase is a religious allusion. It derives from a famous biblical phrase that originated in the third verse of the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. God invokes the phrase as He creates the universe. The connection to Genesis continues as the story ends with a direct quote from the Old Testament: "And there was light --." The reader is inclined to ponder whether Asimov presents technology as some sort of divine entity. It appears to be an omnipotent force that not only enlightens humanity but creates it. 

The story ends with a line about light, and also begins with one. The narrator speaks of  "a time when humanity first stepped into the light" in the opening line. This is later contextualized by the closing line about light which is imbued with religious significance. This pattern, paired with the reference to Genesis, perhaps suggests that life exists as one large cosmic cycle due to technology's godlike omnipotence.

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