Mormon must have written these things to his son with a very heavy heart. We do not know the age of Moroni at this time, but he had recently been “called to the ministry” (Moroni 8:1; 9:1). Was Moroni called to be a missionary or an apostle? We do not have the answer to this question. Did Mormon still have some hope for the Nephite’s repentance, or was he trying to instill some hope in Moroni (v. 22; see Mormon 5:2). Mormon probably knew that Moroni was to finish the record since he instructed him concerning what he was to write (Moroni 9:24). Mormon lived to see Moroni again and delivered the sacred records to him, included the twenty-four plates of the Jaredite records, which Moroni abridged and to whom Mormon makes a comparison (v. 23; see Ether 1:1–2). Mormon was concerned with his people to their end and in their future. Even though many had and would desert the armies (Moroni 9:24), he wrote a record for their posterity.
Mormon’s closing testimony of Christ and God to Moroni (vv. 25–26) seems to have been given to bolster his son for his mission of finishing the record. Notice again that Mormon had a full knowledge of the Godhead. He speaks of Christ and God as two separate beings (v. 26), and he mentioned that the Spirit of the Lord, or the Holy Ghost, had left his people (v. 4 above). He commended Moroni to Christ, and now he recommends Christ to Moroni.