The greatest lesson we can learn from Lehi’s interaction with the angel is to trust the Lord. We need to acknowledge the Lord and trust in what He says. That’s all part of the greatest commandment—to love the Lord and trust in Him.
How many times do the words "invitation" or "invite" show up in the Book of Mormon? When Lehi stated that the Spirit bade me to follow him, it was an invitation. We don’t use the words "bade," "bid, or "beckon" very often. Was this beckoning of the Spirit a commandment? I believe that, in essence, it was. I think, in Lehi’s mind, he understood it as a commandment and that he obediently followed. It helps to know that the Lord presents us with options and requests. However, the invitation may be the kind of option that you don’t want to turn down (truly an offer you can’t refuse).
To say that the Lord commands carries a lot of weight in the English language. However, I am not sure that in Lehi and in Nephi’s language they would have understood it quite that way. They had the word mitzvah. A mitzvah is a commandment, but when it says "thou shalt not kill," the Hebrew reads more like "don’t kill," "no killing." The meaning is almost, "please don’t kill." Yes, the words of the Lord are couched in an imperative form, but it is a negative. Similarly, in German, the expressions "nicht rauchen," or "rauchen Sie nicht" mean "do not smoke, you had better not," and you always need to look at the context of such statements to see how these invitations are being extended, what is immediately happening, and how will things move forward. In Lehi’s case, the Spirit "bade" him to follow. Lehi realized that there must be a choice in such matters, and that there was something more going on here than an order or command and the assumption that everybody must blindly follow.
Remember that the texture of the relationship between God and Lehi was very warm. Even though there would be undesirable consequences if Lehi didn’t follow the bidding of the Lord, His gentle commands were all grounded in a loving relationship. After all, the tree that the Spirit is bidding Lehi to approach is a representation of the Love of God.
Book of Mormon Central, "Why Were Lehi and Nephi Guided by Angelic Escorts in Their Visions? (1 Nephi 11:11)," KnoWhy 492 (December 11, 2018).
"One feature common to [apocalyptic visions], both Jewish and Christian, is the presence of a heavenly being who guides the recipient of a revelation through a visionary experience and interprets or clarifies what is being revealed. … Angelic escorts appear in the visions of Lehi, Nephi, and their contemporaries because in those days the subjects of these revelations were not already familiar and self-evidently recognized even by the prophet."