This part of the story should be read in two ways. The first is as a demonstration of the power of their covenant. The Anti-Nephi-Lehies kept their covenant. Even though this is often told as a story of faith, that does not accurately represent what happened. The term “faith” is most often understood from its New Testament meaning. It does not appear that often in the Old Testament. There, their concept is actually the same, but it is translated as “loyalty” or “faithfulness.” That is the type of “faith” that we see here. It is not the belief as much as it is the faithfulness to the covenant. The Anti-Nephi-Lehies made a covenant, and they kept faith with that covenant even though it led to the death of a thousand of them.
The second level of the story has to do with the political actions that surround this story and the reason it works out as it does. The first element is that the Lamanites have come “for the purpose of destroying the king, and to place another in his stead.” This is an overthrow of the government and the seating of a new king from among the Lamanite unconverted.
The next important part of the story is that the Anti-Nephi-Lehies did not resist. The combination of that description with the need to seat a new king will explain the next set of events.