Yes, a "channel" is really just a multisig lockup between parties. So if you wanted to deposit to your channel(s) with a single on-chain funding TX, you could specify an input with multiple destination outputs, just like in any normal BTC transaction.
With that in mind, as liquidity grows, the need to spread money across numerous channels should theoretically decrease. Multi-hop transfers are a way in which two people can pay each other w/out needing an existing channel open. If Bob wants to pay Alice w/out opening a channel with her, and they both have a mutual channel with Steve, they can still route the transaction with full guarantee of trustless settlement. This works by Bob paying Steve, who in turn pays Alice. If the relationships between participants are extremely isolated, you can keep introducing more intermediaries to form a lineage robust enough to facilitate payments.
Yeah I understand how multi-hop routing payments works. I just wasn't sure about I guess what channels actually are and how you could specify a channel instead of just a node. But yeah i think your first paragraph makes sense to me now. Thanks!
