《Java核心技术》 JVM指令集
Yes, it is as you guessed. The JVM/JRE uses Java bytecode as its instruction set and each JVM needs to be compiled on and be runnable on the native/local hardware (and therefore the local instruction set). This diagram from Wikipedia illustrates this well I think:
![](https://img2018.cnblogs.com/blog/578453/201906/578453-20190614165425876-998098171.png)
The JRE/JVM needs to be compiled for the specific hardware it runs on, though the Java bytecode definitions and interpretations by the JVM itself stay the same. As you point out, the Java bytecode can be seen as a kind of abstraction layer between the Java source code and the local machine/binary code. It does allow for a separation of concerns between the typical Java programmer and needing to know anything machine-specific, as almost all of that is handled by the JVM/JRE.