The book of 3 Nephi begins, not with information about the writer’s childhood and education, but with a very sacred revelation. It came at a critical time when Nephi cried mightily to the Lord for an entire day on behalf of his people, who were about to be killed because they believed the words of Samuel the Lamanite.
In 3 Nephi 11:18–21, when the Savior arrived at Bountiful, he called Nephi out from the crowd first, an event that may have been connected to a previous great and important moment. About thirty-four years before the Savior’s public arrival, the unbelievers were planning to kill those that believed Samuel the Lamanite unless the signs of Christ’s birth occurred by a particular day. Nephi realized that his father, Nephi2, had gone and he knew that the faithful were up against a serious deadline, so he went to pray.
The record does not say where he went to pray, it records only that he “bowed himself down unto the earth,” but as the high priest, he would most likely have gone into the Holy of Holies of their temple. The temple in the City of Nephi was built using the floor plan of the Temple of Solomon (2 Nephi 5:16). One may suppose that the temples in Zarahemla and Bountiful were patterned after that model, because the people continued to live the same Law of Moses. The temples would have accommodated the requirements for the performances and ordinances, including a Holy of Holies where the atonement was prefigured, and where the Lord was expected to appear.
In answer to Nephi’s prayer, the Lord responded, “be of good cheer; for … on the morrow come I into the world.” (3 Nephi 1:13). Thus, Nephi had encountered the Savior about thirty-four years before his public arrival in the western hemisphere. That might have been why Nephi was so glad to see the Savior again, and maybe vice versa. It may have been a remarkable reunion after thirty-four years. The Savior, in the early encounter, had reassured Nephi that the prophecies were about to be fulfilled.
John W. Welch, “Seeing Third Nephi as the Holy of Holies of the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 19, no. 1, (2010): 36.