These verses attest how the Saints of Zion will survive and prosper in the face of the high-tech weaponry of the world and how they will escape oppression and “terror [that] shall not come near thee.”
Referring to verse 16, Elder Gerald N. Lund wrote, “Joseph was surely the smith who forged the instrument by which the Lord’s people continue to prepare individually and collectively for the Savior’s return—and that instrument is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”70
The assurances in verse 17 are repeated by the Lord in our day: “There is no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and if any man lift his voice against you he shall be confounded” (D&C 71:9–10). This greatest cause on earth will continue to roll forth until it fills the whole earth, as the Prophet Joseph Smith prophesied:
“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing, … but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”71