In the text given by the abridger of Alma's record, Mormon, the word faith is not used, but instead hardness of heart is given which connotes not only a refusal to believe, but also a dereliction of duty. We have already noted the words of Nephi, the son of Lehi, spoken to his hardhearted brothers, Laman and Lemuel,
And He said unto the children of men: Follow thou Me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father? (II Nephi 31:10)
In the annals of those who followed Laman and Lemuel in the blindness caused by the hardness of their hearts, or in their lack of faith in the Lord's Word, we can see the truth exemplified of Alma's statement:
And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning His Mysteries.
Having no hope to which they could tie, and no deliverer to whom they then could appeal, the hardhearted were an easy prey to the devil who would take them captive and according to his will destroy them. The chains of Hell means one's inability because of lack of knowledge to do for himself what in God's mercy had been freely provided. It means just this, that the spirit of man is bound by chains made in the foundry of Hell which chains are death and the grave. Hardheartedness, coupled with a refusal to gain knowledge which results in ignorance, is the elemental stuff of the chain's making.