On my bookshelf near the desk where it has been my honor and privilege, in collaboration with my good friend Ed J. Pinegar, to write and compile the materials for this commentary on the Book of Mormon, there stands a small object that perpetually holds my attention. It is a geometrical shape of four regular sides—a tetrahedron—that I asked a cabinet-maker friend of mine some years ago to fashion out of hard wood as a teaching aid in bearing testimony of the truth and power of the Book of Mormon. Though silent, this small object, just over three inches tall, speaks compelling testimony about the purpose and mission of the Book of Mormon.
In his title page, Moroni makes very clear, as he surveys the breadth and scope of the entire work for which he serves as the final and consummate curator, what the Lord’s agenda has been: “Which is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD, manifesting himself unto all nations.”
Great, merciful acts of God in the past, great covenant honor for the present, great hope for the future (i.e., that we are not cast off forever), all resting on the foundation of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That is the four-fold message of the Book of Mormon. My little tetrahedron reminds me of this hour after hour, day after day, as it points toward heaven from whence all blessing flow. What pleasant and edifying reveries there are associated with the study and pondering of the Book of Mormon, this magnificent endowment of God’s word unto His sons and daughters!
It is not surprising that Moroni touches on these same themes as he concludes his prophetic witness and seals up the sacred records to come forth in our day and age. First, he exhorts us to “remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts” (Moroni 10:3). Next, he emphasizes the need for us all—daily, in the here-and-now—to remember our covenant obligations: “And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled” (Moroni 10:31; compare Isaiah 52:1–2). Continuing, he holds out eternal hope for those who are willing to deny themselves of all ungodliness and fill themselves with the love of God: “Then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” (Moroni 10:32). Finally, none of this magnificent plan of redeeming virtue would be possible, Moroni confirms, except it should be empowered by, and extended through, the “shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot” (Moroni 10:33).
Great merciful deeds of the past rendered by God on behalf of our forefathers, great covenant blessings for the present, great hope for the future—all on the foundation of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon is true. As the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (HC 4:461). (Richard J. Allen)