Ether follows in the line of rejected prophets among the Jaredites. We saw that the prophets were rejected by the people, but protected anyway during the reign of Shule (Ether 7:23-25). That, however, was the last time that Moroni records a favorable reaction to the prophets. The reign of Shule would be around eight hundred years prior to the ministry of Ether. Ether is coming to warn a people who are steeped in their ways, and those ways are contrary to the way of God. They reject Ether as they have rejected the other prophets before him.
In this case, the rejection is not simply one of the message, but it appears to entail danger to the man himself. Even in the time of Shule, the king had to declare protection for the prophets, because they were being physically persecuted. This appears to have been a long-standing trend among the Jaredites, and it effects Ether as well. Ether is not out among the people, but he is hiding, in the “cavity of a rock,” or a cave.
A cave has some natural reasons for selecting it as a hiding place. As early man learned, caves offer protection from the elements and a defensible position against wild beasts. It is a place of nature, and therefore not advertising the presence of man. All of this makes it an effective hiding place. In the Mesoamerican world, it was also a sacred place where the levels of the world met. The Mesoamerican tower-temples raised into the air to touch the level of the heavens. Caves entered the earth to touch the world below. If Ether participated in the Mesoamerican mindset, it would not be surprising to see a prophet understanding a cave as a potential place to commune with God.
Redaction: Moroni again notes that he is retelling the information from Ether. He selects certain things to write, and is forbidden to write others. We never have an indication that Moroni is copying directly from his source, only that he is telling what was in the source, to the point that he is commanded to stop the telling.