It is interesting that the Lord would provide a hand-held device to guide Lehi and his family (consider today’s technology for accessing global positioning systems). The more ancient Israelites had a cloud and fire to guide them, but now the Lord provided an apparatus that needed no outside power source because it operated through inner power sources: faith and diligence. A label or title for this ball, director, or compass—“Liahona”—is noted in Alma 37:38.
The word curious has changed meanings over the past nearly two centuries. In Joseph Smith’s day the word meant “made with care, skillfully wrought with art, elegant, and exactness of workmanship.” 43