Reference: Moroni begins his discussion on the problem of faithlessness with an obvious reference to Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Alma 32:21 had also alluded to this verse. (See that commentary.) The importance of its appearance here is that Moroni is using faith’s invisibility to describe those who “did not believe, because they saw… not” (v. 5). The essential dilemma of the necessity of faith contrasts to the invisibility of faith.
Moroni completely accepts that faith allows us to believe in that which cannot be seen. Nevertheless, Moroni is one of those who know of a surety that God’s “unseen” world exists. He has conversed with the Three Nephites (Morm. 8:11) and therefore has confirmation that faith need not always be based on belief in the unseen. Experience can confirm faith—but only “after the trial of your faith.” The irony of faith is that those who do not have it seek it by means that destroy it. Those who do have it are confirmed in powerful ways after such confirmation is no longer necessary.
The things of God are real, but they operate on principles different from terrestrial reality. They have a higher reality that is no less real for being “hoped for and not seen.” They may become “real” through our experience but only after we already possess and exercise faith. Confirmation comes, not as proof but as reward.
Redaction: Moroni again draws a moral lesson from a historical incident in Ether’s record. The frequency with which he does this discloses how he conceives his relationship to his material and his reasons for writing.
Moroni could have simply copied what Mosiah wrote but did not (except possibly for some details in the brother of Jared’s revelation). He appears to rely heavily on his memory (Ether 5:1); therefore, even when he is following Mosiah’s account, he is not usually copying. As another approach, Moroni could have retold the story without editorializing, simply giving the abbreviated Jaredite history.
Instead, Moroni selects the information that illustrates the spiritual principles he is trying to teach his modern readers. He frequently breaks into his narrative to deliver moral lectures. He also creates thematic emphasis, drawing on historical episodes that underscore the promise of the land and the need for the people to be righteous to operationalize the promised blessings.