These verses form the basis of the argument that Lehi's family was engaged in some form of blacksmithing, as Nephi is shown how to construct a ship, but not demonstrably shown how to make the tools required to do the building of the ship. While this information would be just as easy to impart as the knowledge of shipbuilding, there is also no reason to suppose that the family would not have been engaged in the processing of ore, or the making of tools.