Geography: This is one of the verses that is important in creating distance calculations between Nephi and Zarahemla. Of course they could not take a direct route. As we have seen, they are traveling through a mountainous area, and likely following valley paths both for the ease of travel (as opposed to up and down mountains) as well as probable access to water sources.
Literary: As has been noted, "receive them with joy" may have been a set phrase, for it is also found in Mosiah 22:14:
"14 And it came to pass that Mosiah received them with joy; and he also received their records, and also the records which had been found by the people of Limhi."
Textual: There is no break here in the 1830 edition. In fact, this break occurs in the middle of a paragraph in the 1830 edition. Not only was it not considered the end of a chapter, it was not conceived (at one point) as the end of an idea. The following verses deal with the reception by Mosiah. Verse 25 is already pointing towards Mosiah, and the earliest verses of chapter 25 pick up at that point.