Hidden In The Rock

The subtitle for the Book of Mormon speaks of one of its main purposes, probably its ultimate purpose: "Another Testament of Jesus Christ." The Savior is mentioned on almost every page, and the frequency of His appearance in the Book of Mormon dwarfs the Bible. However, some references to Jesus Christ can be easily missed. Some passages may not directly refer to Him by name.

Such is one of the great accounts in the Book of Mormon--obtaining the brass plates. There were three methods used, and success did not come until the third attempt. The first attempt involved chance. They cast lots to determine who should go to Laban and ask for the plates. This was not totally left to chance however. The Bible relates accounts of casting lots, and the general idea was that God's will would be determined in the end. On Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) two goats were presented at the door of the tabernacle and lots were cast to determine which goat would become a sin offering and which goat would become the scapegoat to carry away Israel's sins (Leviticus 16: 7-10). When Jonah boarded a ship to run away from his mission call, the mariners cast lots to see who was the cause of the tempest (Jonah 1: 7). And when there was a vacancy in the twelve apostles, Matthias is selected by lot.

The second method to obtain the plates of brass was to barter and trade Lehi's abandoned property for the plates. This didn't work well either, as Laban's servants chased them out of the house and Nephi and his brothers were forced to flee to safety.

The safe haven becomes interesting. Nephi said, "We hid ourselves in the cavity of a rock" (1 Nephi 3: 27). The word rock is not capitalized in the text, but perhaps it could be. Could this be referring to the Rock as Jesus? In another Book of Mormon verse it states,

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall" (Helaman 5: 12).

In a turbulent world we can turn to Jesus for refuge. He is our safe haven. As the Nephite people are about to be destroyed, Mormon laments, "they might have been clasped in the arms of Jesus" (Mormon 5: 11).

The concept of a "cavity of a Rock" can suggest there is room in His heart--a place only you can fill. A cavity, or hollow place, has covenant implications, and there are similar Biblical references.

"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom." Then it says, "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?" (Isaiah 40: 11-12).

He, who created the heavens and earth, is watching over each of us.

There is another aspect of this. We are dependent on Him for mortal life and eternal life. The Apostle Paul said, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3: 3). And in latter-day revelation the Lord said, 

"Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers—

"For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God—

"Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began" (D&C 86: 8-10).

Nephi may have been hidden from the world, but the "lineage of his fathers" was recorded on the brass plates, and perhaps they gave his priesthood line of authority. He also received the sword of Laban in the process, symbolizing the authority to act in the name of God. A sword represented the justice of God as spoken of by Samuel the Lamanite, who prophesied "that the sword of justice hangeth over this people; and four hundred years pass not away save the sword of justice falleth upon this people (Helaman 13: 5). Nephi was remembered as "having wielded the sword of Laban in their defence" (Jacob 1: 10).