Nephi had centuries before made reference to this prophetic use of an emblematic sign of the Messiah to come (see 2 Nephi 25:20). Alma as well had taught the impoverished Zoramites about this symbolic event from the ministry of Moses and how it pointed to Christ (see Alma 33:19–22). All the Nephite prophets had access to this account through the brass plates of Laban (see Numbers 21:6–9). Now, Nephi commands the recalcitrant people of his day to open their eyes and look upon the Savior, the source of all redeeming blessings—precisely the sentiment that Alma had taught his grandfather Helaman decades earlier, using the words “See that ye look to God and live” (see Alma 37:47).