Moroni’s title page to the Book of Mormon makes clear that this sacred volume will show “unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers.” In this tradition, Moroni provides through the book of Ether yet another testament to the principle that the Lord will lead us and guide us toward the promised land. Through mighty prayer, the brother of Jared has learned from the Lord that He will preserve them from the turmoil and dislocations of the day and lead them to a better place. From the beginning, therefore, the disposition of the brother of Jared is one of faith and hope: “And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth? And if it so be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance” (Ether 1:38). The Lord makes clear that the destination is a covenant land—so choice that only those who are righteous in honoring their covenants with the Lord will be able to retain it. At the outset of the chronicle, Moroni anticipates the exact woeful outcome of this grand tale of how an entire nation emerges through faith from a small family circle—only to dwindle in unbelief and suffer extinction because its people turn their backs on the Lord.
From the counsel of President Spencer W. Kimball, we can see how to avoid such a calamity in our own lives by holding fast to the word of God:
Let us hold fast to the iron rod. The Savior urged us to put our hand to the plow without looking back. In that spirit we are being asked to have humility and a deep and abiding faith in the Lord and to move forward—trusting in him, refusing to be diverted from our course, either by the ways of the world or the praise of the world. Let us, then, move forward; let us continue the journey with lengthened stride. The Lord will lead us along, and he will be in our midst and not forsake us.
I know with all my soul that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he died on the cross and was resurrected from the dead. He is the risen Lord, the Great Presiding High Priest, and he stands at the head of the Church. (“‘Let Us Not Weary in Well Doing,’” Ensign, May 1980, 80)