Geography: The construction of these tall towers are, again, public works with military importance. They occupy strategic locations, providing oversight of Lehi-Nephi and Shilom. They are certainly defense systems, one purpose of which is to provide a lookout.
The reference that the hill north of Shilom was “resort for the children of Nephi at the time they fled out of the land,” refers to Mosiah1’s departure. (See Omni 1:12ff). Sorenson suggests that the “resort” was probably a staging point, adding that “the Zeniffites likely inhabited only the local land of Nephi (and perhaps also Shilom), for the hill was convenient only to those two localities.”