In Ether 2:8-9, Moroni is careful to record the covenant between the Lord and the brother of Jared. That covenant concerned a "land of promise which was choice above all other lands which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people." The Lord "swore in his wrath unto the brother of Jared that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them." Then in the very next verses which follow, Moroni declares, not only in sad retrospective, but also as a warning to the future Gentile inhabitants: "And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land . . ." (Ether 2:9).
According to Lee Donaldson, the covenant to obey Jesus Christ as the God of the land fits a very old pattern. . . . Anciently, the covenants that man made with God were entered into with a specific formula which bound both parties. The biblical scholar George Mendenhall identified six common steps in ancient covenants and treaties (Interpreter's Dictionary 1:714). These elements are as follows: (1) preamble, (2) historical prologue, (3) stipulations, (4) blessings and curses, (5) witnesses, and (6) deposit and public reading of the covenant. . . A close look at the second chapter of Ether illustrates each of these six elements (see the illustration). It is interesting that the same covenant is given in all three sets of plates that make up our Book of Mormon. In view of the requirement of "three witnesses" (Ether 5:4), it is significant that the Lord selected three different sets of plates (the plates of Nephi, the plates of Mormon, and those of Ether) to stand as vital components in establishing the Book of Mormon covenant. [Lee L. Donaldson, "The Plates of Ether and the Covenant of the Book of Mormon," in The Book of Mormon: Fourth Nephi through Moroni, From Zion to Destruction, pp. 70-74] [See the commentary on Ether 5:4]
Ether 2:9 We can behold the decrees of God concerning this land ([Illustration]): The overarching Book of Mormon covenant to obey Jesus Christ as the God of the land fits a very old pattern] [Lee L. Donaldson, "The Plates of Ether and the Covenant of the Book of Mormon," in The Book of Mormon: Fourth Nephi through Moroni, From Zion to Destruction, p. 73]