2 Nephi 1–4 contains Lehi’s final words as a patriarch to his posterity. It echoes the promises and prophecies of Jacob in Genesis 49 to his posterity. As we read these chapters, we could spend time pondering our own patriarchal blessing and its promises, blessings, and how it has shaped our life. One of the great realities of the Restoration is referred to as continuing revelation. Where else in the world can a person go to get a patriarchal blessing?
Patriarchs in our midst have the blessing of laying their hands on your head to give you guidance that will lead you in the paths of righteousness. Lehi set a wonderful precedent for us, as he blessed his posterity. And why did Joseph Smith commence this practice as early as 1833? In many ways, the Book of Mormon served de facto as the guiding handbook during the early years of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by Joseph Smith. Seeing Lehi bless his children and grandchildren may well have been the model that inspired Joseph to ask permission to have his own father commence doing likewise in this dispensation.
John W. Welch, "Lehi’s Last Will and Testament: A Legal Approach," in Second Nephi, The Doctrinal Structure, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1989), 61–82.