9 And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel.29 And he shall be great like unto him whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel, out of the land of Egypt; for a seer will I raise up to deliver my people out of the land of Egypt; and he shall be called Moses. And by this name he shall know that he is of thy house; for he shall be nursed by the king’s daughter, and shall be called her son. [JST, Genesis 50:29]10 And Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt. [2 Nephi 3:9–10]
The covenants made to Joseph of Egypt also included the children of Israel being led out of Egypt by Moses. The fulfillment of this covenant is recorded in the present-day Bible in the book of Exodus. JST Genesis 50 gives more detail about Moses. Again it is obvious that Lehi is being selective in his quoting from the plates of brass, including only those things pertinent to the seer of the latter days. Joseph Smith was great like Moses as a few comparisons below will illustrate.
Joseph Smith “was called of God, and ordained an apostle of Jesus Christ, to be the first elder [head] of this [latter-day] church” (D&C 20:2). The Lord revealed that “no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as Moses” (D&C 28:2; italics added). He was “ordained President of the High Priesthood” (D&C 75 section heading). “The duty of the President of the office of the High Priesthood is to preside over the whole church, and to be like unto Moses—Behold, here is wisdom; yea, to be a seer, a revelator, a translator, and a prophet, having all the gifts of God which he bestows upon the head of the church” (D&C 107:91–92; italics added). Moses “saw God face to face, and he talked with him” (Moses 1:2). Joseph “saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, … One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!… I asked the Personages … I was answered [he talked with them]” (JS—H 1:17–18). Moses was told, “I have a work for thee, Moses, my son” (Moses 1:6). The angel Moroni told Joseph: “God had a work for me to do” (JS—H 1:33). Moses had a vision to prepare him to write Genesis, and at the end of the vision was told:
40 And now, Moses, my son, I will speak unto thee concerning this earth upon which thou standest; and thou shalt write the things which I shall speak.
41 And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the children of men—among as many as shall believe. (Moses 1:40–41)
After the vision, the Lord told Moses: “Behold, I reveal unto you concerning this heaven, and this earth; write the things which I speak” (Moses 2:1). Joseph Smith was the one raised up to give Moses’ words “again to the children of men.” Joseph was commanded to make an inspired translation of the Bible:
18 And I have given unto him [Joseph Smith] the keys of the mystery of those things which have been sealed, even things which were from the foundation of the world, and the things which shall come from this time until the time of my coming, if he abide in me, and if not, another will I plant in his stead.
19 Wherefore, watch over him that his faith fail not, and it shall be given by the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, that knoweth all things.
20 And a commandment I give unto thee—that thou shalt write for him; and the scriptures shall be given, even as they are in mine own bosom, to the salvation of mine own elect; [D&C 35:18–20]
The “Joseph Smith Translation” was the result of this commandment, part of which is the Book of Moses now published in the Pearl of Great Price.
The list could go on, but the above comparisons are sufficient to establish the parallel between the two prophets, and sustain the third characteristic of the choice seer as fitting Joseph Smith. Joseph of Egypt lived a few hundred years before Moses, and thousands of years before Joseph Smith, but both had similar experiences.