The arrow in a chemical equation is read as "yields" or "produces". It indicates the direction of the reaction and the products that are formed from the reactants. For example, in the equation:

$$2H_2 + O_2 \rightarrow 2H_2O$$

We can read the arrow as "yields" or "produces" to indicate that two molecules of hydrogen gas (H$_2$) and one molecule of oxygen gas (O$_2$) react to produce two molecules of water (H$_2$O). The arrow tells us that the reactants on the left side of the equation are converted into the products on the right side of the equation.