Chapter 30 begins by teaching the doctrine of adoption as part of the gospel covenant. Adoption is a basic principle of the Abrahamic covenant. Jehovah said, “As many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name … and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father” (Abraham 2:10). Nephi taught that as many people as will repent and believe in the Messiah may become the covenant people of the Lord. Nephi then turned his prophetic eye to his own descendants.
When the Book of Mormon is distributed among father Lehi’s descendants, some of them, a “remnant,” will come to understand that they originated from Jerusalem and that “they are descendants of the Jews”—not in a tribal but in a national sense, or as part of the covenant people of Israel. They will be restored to a knowledge of their ancestors and their ancestors’ God, Jesus Christ. Such knowledge will be a blessing, bringing them out of darkness into light, and some of them will become “a pure and a delightsome people.” Thus, the doctrine of the gathering is complete: Israel is gathered to Christ through the Book of Mormon.