What power is Elrond referring to?

[Gurthang]

It seems to me that there is a greater power at work here. The Shire is being protected on all sides by presumably powerful people. Yet it seems that none of these people knew exactly why they were hiding the Shire. None of them knew of the Ring, that is for sure; and even if they had, they were protecting the Hobbits long before the Ring ever came there.

It seems more than coincidental to me that they were protecting this land (apperently without a reason) and that eventually it came to be key in the overthrowing of Sauron. Maybe Eru had a hand in this coincidence? Perhaps He gave that knowledge to Elrond as 'foresight'. Maybe Elrond did not understand why, but he would have known that the Shire would be important and would need to be protected and hidden.