“I Give Unto You Power”
It is unlikely that this is the first time that the keys of the priesthood were granted to a Nephite prophet-leader; more likely, this is simply the first mention of it. We would suppose that Lehi, as a leader of the Nephi dispensation, was given the keys of the kingdom. Nephi and Jacob and Mosiah and Alma and Mormon and Moroni—many of the Nephite prophets—surely had the directing power, the right of presidency, the keys of the kingdom, bestowed upon them. The fact that temples were established among the Nephites early in their history (see 2 Nephi 5:16) suggests that sealings and marriages and ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood were a part of their religious life.