“These Plates of Brass Should Go Forth Unto All Nations”
Among Lehi’s joyous prophecies was the full assurance that “these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time.” From a very temporal perspective, perhaps Lehi was indicating here a neglect by Laban of these brass treasures, a neglect which would have allowed the plates to become tarnished or corroded. Such would never again be the case, Lehi predicted, for thereafter they would receive the sacred attention so appropriate to such an infinitely valuable scriptural and family record (cf. Alma 37:1-5). From a more figurative perspective, the message on the brass plates is timeless, and thus the important matters contained therein would be untouched and undimmed; indeed, “truth, the sum of existence, will weather the worst, eternal, unchanged, evermore” (“Oh Say, What Is Truth?” Hymns, no. 272).
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