According to Hugh Nibley, the separation of people by an "awful gulf" (1 Nephi 15:28) begs a cultural note. Remember, Joseph Smith was a product of New England, but Lehi's story-setting was in the desert wilderness. As one walks along in the desert he will encounter one of these awful gulfs. You see them in Canyonlands, etc. There you find a 2,000-foot drop between one side of the canyon and the other. The two sides are almost right together, but you couldn't get from the one to the other. That's exactly what happens to the wicked. [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 1, p. 136]