Jacob explains that he and his brother Joseph “had been consecrated priests and teachers of this people by the hand of Nephi” (Jacob 1:18). John Sorenson uses Jacob 1:18 and Jacob 2:11, which mentions the Lord’s command to Jacob, “get thou up into the temple on the morrow, and declare the word which I shall give thee unto this people,” to imply that all the Nephites might have been served by only two religious officeholders, and all met at one site. [John Sorenson, The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book, F.A.R.M.S., p. 219]
“Consecrated Priests and Teachers of This People”
According to Robert Matthews, there were no descendants of Levi or Aaron among the Nephites because Lehi’s family was of Joseph (1 Nephi 6:2), rather than Levi. Therefore, the Nephites could not be regularly called to officiate in the ordinances of the law of Moses and the Aaronic Priesthood. However, since the Melchizedek Priesthood encompasses all the powers and authority of the Aaronic, worthy men among the Nephites, such as Jacob and Joseph, could be consecrated as priests and teachers and could function in the ordinances of the law of Moses, as well as the gospel, by virtue of the Melchizedek Priesthood (see D&C 68:18-20). The calling of Jacob and Joseph to be “priests and teachers” (Jacob 1:18, 2:11) was not a calling to the offices of priest and teacher as we know them today in the Aaronic Priesthood, since they performed the ordinances of the law of Moses, which they could not have done unless they had priesthood authority. [Robert Matthews, “Jacob: Prophet, Theologian, Historian,” in The Book of Mormon: Jacob through Words of Mormon, To Learn with Joy, p. 41]