It was as if the angel were summing up, bringing Nephi back to the point where he had begun-the deeper significance of the tree. Having seen the virgin bearing the child in her arms, the angel essentially asked:
“Now do you understand the meaning of the tree;
now do you grasp the message behind the sign?”
“The Time That He Should Manifest Himself”
The Savior would receive and confer the keys and fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood; with this higher priesthood would also come the right to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost upon those who had been baptized in water by proper authority. John the Baptist came baptizing with water, while his Master, the Lord of Life, brought the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. Further, those who live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Spirit-whenever and wherever they may live—are blessed equally with those who experienced the Savior’s ministry among them in mortality (cf. 2 Nephi 2:4).