Although Alma has hopes that the preservation of the records might also help turn the hearts of the Nephites who were falling away, he leaves that as his hope. What he knows is that the records are “preserved for a wise purpose.” The preserved records undoubtedly refer to more than the brass plates at this point. Alma had begun by telling Helaman, as the record keeper, to continue to keep the large plates, and, at the end of this section, he is certainly returning to those plates, as well as to the more recently mentioned plates of brass.
When Alma began speaking to Helaman in our Chapter 36, he began with the statement: “My son, give ear to my words; for I swear unto you, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land” (Alma 36:1). The idea of Helaman personally prospering was repeated in Alma 36:30. Now, in verse 13, Alma again declares the foundational Nephite covenant: “If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land—but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence.”
Verses 14 and 15 elaborate on the two aspects of the promise of the land. The first is that they will prosper upon principles of righteousness. Therefore, Helaman is to keep the sacred records that will teach the people what they should do to remain faithful.
The negative aspect of the promise of the land is that if the people do not keep Jehovah’s commandments, they “shall be cut off from his presence.” Verse 15 declares that one way in which that will happen is that the people will have “these things which are sacred” taken away. Not having the scriptures, they will fall even farther from God and “shall be delivered up unto Satan.” Mormon, who was copying this statement from Alma’s record, would know that the Nephite people would eventually fulfill this sad prophecy. They would be destroyed and the world (for over a thousand years) would not have access to any of their records.