In Ezekiel 37, the prophet Ezekiel prophesies that the records that would become the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon will become one in the hands of readers. When we study the Bible and Book of Mormon together, it is profitable to notice the subtle ways in which these two volumes of scripture connect together.
The name Ezekiel means "God will strengthen," and God certainly strengthened both him and Lehi. Did Lehi know Ezekiel? Potentially. Ezekiel would have been a young man at the time Jerusalem was destroyed. He must have been very prominent and well-educated, for he was among the few who were taken into Babylon. He was likely about the same age as Nephi.
In that relatively small circle of prophets in Jerusalem, there is no reason why Lehi and Ezekiel should not have known each other. Ezekiel was a priest in the temple, and many of his prophecies relate to promises that Lehi was also concerned with. Ezekiel likely knew that people, like Lehi and also Rechab, were leaving. Ezekiel may not have had any idea where Lehi had gone, but he would have known that Lehi and his family were suddenly gone. He knows God is watching over them, that the Lord will be their strength. As a prophet, he is aware of the scattering of Israel, and he will prophesy about the strength of the Lord bringing them back together again.
Like Lehi, Ezekiel was also a man of great visions. The last nine chapters of the Book of Ezekiel are visions of the eternal covenant and the eternal temple that would be restored in the millennial last days. Interestingly, in Doctrine and Covenants 29:21, the Lord speaks of the whore of all the earth being cast down by devouring fire, for abomination shall not reign, quoting Ezekiel 38:22 and mentioning Ezekiel by name. Lehi used similar phrases in his teachings and prophecies.
Did Ezekiel know that these people going out into the far reaches of the world would write and that their writings and his would someday come back together again? Lehi never quotes Ezekiel 37. However, in 2 Nephi 3:12, Lehi says something similar to his youngest son Joseph: "Wherefore the fruit of thy loins shall write and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write, and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah shall grow together."
Lehi then states, in 2 Nephi 3:12, five reasons for why these two records need to come together. These five purposes should be carefully considered: