Perhaps the most important theological point of this verse was that the fruits were equal. The success of the Lord’s plan did not depend on whether the fruit was borne by a natural or a grafted branch. The strength of the root was sufficient for all.
The original Abrahamic covenant produces Yahweh’s peculiar (his very own) people (Ex. 19:5, Deut. 14:2, 1 Pet. 2:9), and the benefits of the covenant produce children capable of exaltation, whether they come to the covenant through heritage (the Jews) or adoption (the Gentles). Significantly, Joseph Smith declared “all the minds and spirits that God ever sent into the world are susceptible of enlargement.” All receive the benefits of the gospel equally. Before the Lord there is no respecting of persons. In Paul’s terms: “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:27–29).
Variant: All versions of the Book of Mormon preserve the sentence fragment: “even until the bad had been cast away out of the vineyard, and the Lord had preserved unto himself that the trees had become again the natural fruit.” Something is missing here, but the examination of the textual history cannot restore it. Of several possibilities, Skousen suggests the most likely is that the text should read “the Lord had preserved the good unto himself.… ” Skousen finds strong parallels in verse 77, which clearly has the Lord preserving thegood and casting away the bad.I find the argument for the emendation compelling.