Narrative analysis: From a purely literary standpoint, Nephi has a small problem. He has undertaken in the small plates to blend to types of information into a single narrative, a history, and a record of his experiences with the power of God. While at times this has not been an overly forced connection (as the events which shaped his spiritual growth were part and parcel of physical events, such as the return for the plates) Nephi is now faced with a more perplexing task. He has left structured events soon after the narration of his father's dream, and although he has returned us to "historical events" by describing his discussion of the meaning of the dream with his brothers, that was still quite obviously couched in spiritual terms.
At this point in the narrative Nephi needs a transition from the spiritual to the mundane, from prophetic future history to a more common travel narrative. The device he uses is to return to a theme, a place, and a symbolic meaning. He notes that these things were done "as my father dwelt in a tent in the valley which he called Lemuel."
This simple sentence puts closure on the prophetic section by clearly indicating that this narrative is over. It also returns the reader to the time and place before this long narrative began. From a literary standpoint, he neatly returns to a statement made before launching this exegetical narrative: "1 Nephi 9:1 And all these things did my father see, and hear, and speak, as he dwelt in a tent, in the valley of Lemuel, and also a great many more things, which cannot be written upon these plates." When Nephi finishes with his father's vision, he ties it to time and place. When he finishes with the narration of his own vision, he similarly ties it to time and place, and thus prepares the reader for the return to more mundane aspects of the story of Lehi's family exodus.