To this point, Nephi’s vision of the tree of life and the coming of Jesus Christ has included elements that have a pretty general applicability to all people—the basic symbolism of the tree, the rod of iron, the large and spacious building, and the story of Jesus’ birth and sacrificial death.
Now it gets much more sensitive for Nephi, because he sees how the story of his family will play out, with great tragedy on display. Lehi’s earlier account foreshadows what Nephi sees, because of Laman’s and Lemuel’s unwillingness to join the rest of the family in coming to the tree of life and partaking of its fruit.
SPOILER ALERT: What Nephi sees in the rest of this chapter is a Cliffs Notes version of what is to come in the Book of Mormon.
Nephi is shown the land of promise—the very place he and his family hope to get to in their present circumstances. And yet, instead of an encouraging scene, as Nephi beholds the multitude of people, what does he see? Multitudes arrayed against each other in battle. Natural disasters and darkness plaguing the land—clear signs that over generations, much of Lehi’s family would not live up to the standards the Lord expects of those for whom he makes special provision.
There is a silver lining. After the vapor of darkness Nephi initially sees subsides, there are a number of people who have survived the “great and terrible judgments of the Lord.” More importantly, he sees the resurrected Jesus appear among these survivors and designate twelve men as spiritual leaders, leading to more than three generations of righteousness among Nephi’s family in the promised land.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there. Similar to the vision from the previous chapter that occurs in parallel with imagery from the tree of life and its surroundings, Nephi communicates the ominous fate of his people in tandem with things of particular importance from that baseline vision.
As Nephi’s descendants contend with the descendants of Laman and Lemuel, he communicates his understanding of many of the dangerous and undesirable elements around the tree of life—a fountain of filthy water representing the depths of hell, mists of darkness representing devilish temptations, and the large and spacious building as the embodiment of “vain imaginations and pride.”
The great tragedy Nephi discerns is how those in the building are divided from those who have successfully made their way to the tree by a “great and terrible gulf.” The most tragic part of this circumstance is that the people in the building (clearly being equated to the warring multitudes among his family in future generations) have brought about their own miserable fate through the choices they have made.
There is no way simply to jump over a narrow crevice from the large and spacious building to the tree. It seems as though the only possible chance of salvation is the hard road back to where the pathway begins (i.e. through repentance), and doing the work necessary to grab hold of God’s word and make one’s way to the tree.
It doesn’t seem as though many among this later generation are willing to do what it takes to get themselves right with the Lord. Instead, we find that Laman’s and Lemuel’s descendants overcome Nephi’s in armed struggle, and spread themselves throughout the land of promise, dwindling in unbelief and becoming a dark and “loathsome” people, full of idleness and abomination. Thus, the chapter ends on a pretty grim note, with we as readers saying to ourselves, “Gee, I really hope there’s a ray of light on the way.”
Since we know that Jesus heralds the great gospel of redemption and second chances, thankfully there is some better news to come. This larger vision of the future will also help Nephi feel as though all the challenges he is about to face to bring his family to the promised land will not be in vain. Otherwise, it would seem pretty pointless.
You can read the chapter here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/12?lang=eng
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