esc_html from blog-config.php

Could you explain one thing to me? Here is the code snippet from blog-config.php (line 201):

$read_more_text    = apply_filters( 'astra_post_read_more', __( 'Read More »', 'astra' ) );
		$read_more_classes = apply_filters( 'astra_post_read_more_class', array() );

		$post_link = sprintf(
			esc_html( '%s' ),
			'<a class="' . esc_attr( implode( ' ', $read_more_classes ) ) . '" href="' . esc_url( get_permalink() ) . '"> ' . the_title( '<span class="screen-reader-text">', '</span>', false ) . ' ' . $read_more_text . '</a>'
		);

		$output = ' &hellip;<p class="read-more"> ' . $post_link . '</p>';

Why is it here:

$post_link = sprintf(
			esc_html( '%s' ),

What exactly will be replaced here? Can I just write something like this in my code:

$read_more_text    = apply_filters( 'astra_post_read_more', __( 'Read More »', 'astra' ) );
......
return '<p class="read-more"><a class="myclass" href="' . esc_url( get_permalink() ) . '"> ' . the_title( '<span class="screen-reader-text">', '</span>', false ) . ' ' . $read_more_text . '</a></p>'

Please forgive me for bothering!

P.S
Since I already set the class for the a tag, this filter is no longer needed either:

add_filter( 'astra_post_read_more_class','my_rm_classes' );
function my_rm_classes( $classes ) {
 
    $classes[] = 'myclass';
     
    return $classes;
     
}