Obviously Lehi explicated the connection between the fall of man and the Messiah as redeemer, a concept crucial to the plan of salvation; however, Nephi records only a very brief synopsis of what must have been a much larger original text. Barker argues that pre-reform Messianic expectations had a strong redemptive theme:
Isaiah’s Servant Song continues: “He shall sprinkle many peoples” (Isa. 52:15), the term for the high priest cleansing the temple with blood (this is often translated “He shall startle many peoples”). “Upon him was the chastisement that made us whole” could also be translated: “The covenant bond of our peace was his responsibility”; and “With his stripes we are healed” could also be read as “By his joining us together we are healed” (Isa. 53:5b). This is the unifying role of the high priest, healing the damage to the covenant by joining all things together with his own life. When the Servant pours out his life, it is described as an ’ašam, the technical term for an offering to renew the covenant bond.