Three times in these verses Lehi urges his sons to awake. Thus he recognizes they have been asleep. He first urges them to “awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell” (v. 13). The sleep of hell must have reference to their being destined to awake in hell, or the spirit prison if they do not change their ways. The awful chains that carry them “captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe” is spoken of often in the Book of Mormon. Alma describes the chains of hell to Zeezrom:
10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell. [Alma 12:10–11]
Lehi next invites his sons to “Awake! And arise from the dust” (v. 14). Being in the dust implies they are being held down, or are walking where they are being soiled. They are living in dirt or sin. The words of Lehi to “hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return” (v. 14), expresses his desire for his sons to learn from his experiences of a long life rather than to follow the well-traveled dusty road they are on, the way of the world.
The road Lehi had traveled had led to his soul being redeemed— “I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love” (v. 14). In the words of Peter he had made his “ calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10). The Prophet Joseph explained: “When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his pleasure to receive the other comforter … he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time” (TPJS, 150–51). Lehi had apparently had this experience. The following instructions to his sons were to encourage them to follow the same course.
The statutes that the sons are admonished to observe (v. 16) are the written commandments that the Lord has revealed to them. The judgments of the Lord (v. 16) are the answers to decisions that they must make which will be given by the Spirit, or relying on personal revelation rather on their own reasoning. Of course we are to “study [our decisions] out in [our] minds; then [we] must ask if it be right” (D&C 9:8), but not rely on reasoning alone.
Lehi had been shown that Laman and Lemuel “would not come unto [him] and partake of the fruit” (1 Nephi 8:19), but he would not give up (vv. 17–19). He continued to exhort them “with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words” (1 Nephi 8:37). He yielded to the will of the Lord (v. 19). “Faith in God unto life and salvation” comes through “an actual knowledge that the course of life which one is pursuing is according to His will” (Lectures on Faith 3:2–3). Lehi had followed this course, and his soul was redeemed (v. 15), but he had “this anxiety of [his] soul from the beginning” for his sons (v. 16).
Lehi again reminds his sons of the conditional promises of prospering in the land if they keep the Lord’s commandments (v. 20). Nephi first recorded this promise when the Lord spoke to him in the valley of Lemuel (see 1 Nephi 2:19–21), but may have been told to Lehi before that. It is repeated throughout the Book of Mormon, and is “the everlasting decree of God” to whomever “doth possess [the land]” (Ether 2:10). Therefore, it is still applicable to us today. Furthermore, it is the promised land of Zion where will be fulfilled “the covenant which [Christ] made with your father Jacob; and it shall be a New Jerusalem” (3 Nephi 20:22). In fact, Lehi alludes to a Zion society when he invites his sons to “be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things” (v. 21). “The Lord called [Enoch’s] people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them” (Moses 7:18). To be of one heart and one mind is to be united in truth, or doctrine; and in understanding. “The Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not” (Jacob 4:13). Those who seek to bring forth Zion “shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost” (1 Nephi 13:37). The words of Christ (scriptures), which are given by the power of the Holy Ghost, “will tell you all things what ye should do,” and “will show you all things what ye should do (revelation). Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ” (2 Nephi 32:3–6). King Benjamin urged his people to “open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view” (Mosiah 2:9).
To be of one mind is to have “your eye be single to [Christ’s] glory… .Therefore sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God” (D&C 88:67–68). Thus, through these means, Lehi pleads with his sons to become “a choice and a favored people of the Lord” instead of coming “down into captivity,” and incurring the “destruction of both soul and body” (2 Nephi 1:19, 21–22).
The third time that Lehi invited his sons to awake, he urged them to put on the armor of righteousness, and referred again to the two previous problems, to shake off the chains of hell and to arise from the dust, (v. 23). In the context of the armor, to come out of obscurity suggests that they take the offensive in the war against evil.