Hugh Nibley asserts that when Lehi dreams of the vanity of the world, he sees “a great and spacious building” (1 Nephi 8:26), suspended in the air out of reach and full of smart and finely dressed people. That is exactly how the Bedouin of the desert, to whom the great stone houses of the city are an abomination, pictures the wicked world; and as the city Arabs still mock their desert cousins (whom they secretly envy) with every show of open contempt, so the well-dressed people in the big house “were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers” (1 Nephi 8:7) at the poor little band of bedraggled wanderers, hungrily eating fruit from a tree, and duly abashed that their poverty should be put to open shame. One is reminded by Lehi’s imagery of the great stone houses of the ancient Arabs, “ten-and twelve-story skyscrapers that … represent genuine survivals of ancient Babylonian architecture,” with their windows beginning, for the sake of defense, fifty feet from the ground. At night these lighted windows would certainly give the effect of being suspended above the earth. [Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert, F.A.R.M.S., p. 44]
1 Nephi 8:26 A great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth ([Illustration] A great and spacious building in the days of Lehi may have been like the palace of Bilquis, the Queen of Sheba, with towers reaching to a great height and windows throughout. Located in Marib, Yemen, this palace was the crossroads of the ancient capital of Sheba, one of the wealthiest cities in Arabia in Lehi’s time. [Scot and Maurine Proctor, Light from the Dust, pp. 24-25]
“A Great and Spacious Building - Potter”
In Lehi’s dream he describes
a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth. And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit. (1 Nephi 8:26, 27)
According to George Potter and Richard Wellington, the scenery of wadi Tayyib al-Ism could have added much to Lehi’s image of “a great and spacious building.” If one continues down the canyon of wadi Tayyib al-Ism, the walls of the canyon continue to rise and reach over 2,000 feet in height. Obviously one cannot know what the building looked like that Lehi saw in his dream. In most pictures the building is normally represented as some type of skyscraper with its base above the ground, floating in the air. It has been suggested that this building recalls the multi-storied houses of Southern Arabia, that the family might have encountered later in their journey./ This may well be the case, however some alternative perspectives might be worthwhile here.
At one point in the canyon, the rock walls form a gothic arch high overhead, appearing to almost overlap and block out the sky, reminiscent of the great Cathedral of Canterbury or the Abbey of Westminster, but on a much grander scale (see the illustration below). Here the natural acoustics allow very little chance for sound waves to dissipate and noises seem amplified. It is similar to the whispering gallery of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London or the Tabernacle of Salt Lake City. It took 7 seconds for a loud shout to subside, indicating that the sound waves traveled between the walls of the canyon upwards of 200 times. If the members of Lehi’s party mocked him in this location, could the amplified sound of such laughter and derision have played on Lehi’s mind?
It is interesting to note that Nephi later mentions that the building falls (1 Nephi 11:36). This arching of the canyon walls is the only location where there are large rocks on the floor which have come crashing down from high above. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering the Lehi-Nephi Trail, pp. 63-64] [See the Potter commentary on 1 Nephi 12:18]
1 Nephi 8:26 A great and spacious building (Potter) [[Illustration] Canyon walls near opening, George standing in the lighted area of the canyon floor. [George Potter & Richard Wellington, Discovering Nephi’s Trail, Chapter 3, p. 18, Unpublished]
1 Nephi 8:27 And they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit ([Illustration] Details of Lehi’s Dream. Artist: Greg Olsen. [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Ensign, March 1995, pp. 14, 12-13]