ביום השלישי וישא אברהם, the letter ו is something additional, a phenomenon we encounter frequently, such as in Genesis 36,24 ואלה בני צבעון ואיה וענה. The Torah could also have written ביום השלישי נשא אברהם את עיניו, “on the third day Avraham raised his eyes.” (using the ordinary past tense, instead of the future tense with the vav hahipuch. It is possible to justify the use of the form with the letter ו by understanding this verse as a continuation of the previous verse and reading that one as if it had been written: וילך אל המקום ביום השלישי, “he went (arrived) to the place on the third day.” At that time he raised his eyes in the direction of the site in question, i.e. Jerusalem. In other words, once Avraham had entered the general area known as ארץ המוריה, he raised his eyes to look for the specific site God must have had in mind. At any rate, he did not yet know which mountain God had chosen for him to erect the altar on which to sacrifice Yitzchok. According to Pirkey de Rabbi Eliezer chapter 31 and other Midrashim, the words וירא את המקום מרחוק refer to Avraham actually seeing the mountain in question. He identified it as he saw a column of fire on that mountain. He asked his son if he saw anything specific on any of the mountains, to which Yitzchok replied that he saw a column of fire on one of the mountains. When Avraham repeated the same question to Ishmael and Eliezer previously described as נעריו, his lads, they both answered in the negative. Upon hearing that both of these men did not notice anything out of the ordinary, he told them to remain near the donkey which could also not see anything unusual.

שבו לכם עם החמור, with those who are like donkeys.