First, perhaps the Lord was speaking of the total and complete manner in which he revealed himself to the brother of Jared. President Joseph Fielding Smith explained:
“I have always considered Ether 3:15 to mean that the Savior stood before the brother of Jared plainly, distinctly, and showed him his whole body and explained to him that he was a spirit. In his appearance to Adam and Enoch, he had not made himself manifest in such a familiar way. His appearance to earlier prophets had not been with that same fulness… . For the brother of Jared he removed the veil completely.” (Doctrines of Salvation 1:37; see also Bruce R. McConkie, Promised Messiah, pp. 47, 599-600.)