The plates that Lehi’s sons had obtained at the peril of their lives would prove of inestimable value to prophets, historians, and numberless righteous people for a thousand years. The plates of brass were preserved for the Nephites just as the Book of Mormon was preserved for us. Thus Lehi prophesied that “these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed.” He further prophesied “that these plates of brass should never perish.”
As Lehi’s family and Zoram scrutinized the plates in their tent-camp on the shores of the Red Sea, they learned that the plates contained the five books of Moses—presumably Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—including an account of the creation of the world and of Adam and Eve, their family’s genealogy (Lehi was a descendant of Joseph, who was a great-grandson of Abraham), a record of the Jews, and the prophecies of the holy prophets from the beginning down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, even prophecies that had been spoken by Jeremiah. Laban also was a descendant of Joseph. Either he or some scribal assistants had been interested in recording two decades of Jeremiah’s prophecies.