Hugh Nibley
“The Lord explained why it would be necessary to build such peculiar vessels: because he was about to loose winds of incredible violence that would make the crossing a frightful ordeal at best: any windows, he warns, will be dashed to pieces; fire will be out of the question; ’ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you…This was no normal crossing and no brief passing storm: ‘The wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters’ (Ether 6:8)—’the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters; … they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind’ (Ether 6:5-6; italics added). It is perfectly clear from our account that the party was to spend a good deal of time below the surface of the sea!” (Lehi in the Desert and the World of the Jaredites, p. 178)