The name of John the Revelator was known and recorded centuries before he was born, as were the names of Moses (2 Nephi 3:9–10), Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1), Mary (Mosiah 3:8; Alma 7:10), Joseph Smith (2 Nephi 3:11, 15), and especially Jesus Christ (Moses 6:52, 57; 7:50; 2 Nephi 25:19; Mosiah 3:8).
John’s record of the sweeping vision seen by Lehi, Nephi, and others is called the book of Revelation. Nephi and John saw the same things, and their accounts contain many of the same images: tree of life, great and abominable church, the restoration of the gospel, and so forth. However, Nephi’s account emphasizes the first coming of Jesus Christ and the meridian dispensation, while John’s account emphasizes the second coming of Jesus Christ, the end of the final dispensation, and the Millennium.