In trying to encourage his brothers to believe in the power of the Lord, Nephi reminds his brothers of the great exodus from Egypt. The exodus is referred to very frequently in the Jewish tradition. Why? Because the Lord had shown His incredible power in such a magnificent way - and he had done it to the greatest political power on the earth at that time. The Lord did this so ’That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever’ (Joshua 4:24). The act becomes the great symbol of the power of the God of Israel. The Book of Mormon prophets refer to this great event in many more passages. In the Bible, it is referred to at least 12 times (Deu 11:4, Josh 2:10, 4:23, 24:6, Neh 9:9, Ps 106:7,9,22, Ps 136:13,15, Acts 7:36, and Heb 11:29).
“Nephi was not the only prophet in scripture to shed a man’s blood. Moses killed an Egyptian when Moses saw the Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave; when he looked around and saw that no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand (Ex. 2:11-12). Fearing that he might get caught, Moses fled to the land of Midian...Nephi’s reference to Moses as he and his brothers moved quietly toward Jerusalem that dark night turns out to be more prophetic and more significant than Nephi probably realized at the time. Nephi urged his brothers, ’Let us be strong like unto Moses… . Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians’ (1 Nephi 4:2-3). Although Nephi had the destruction of the Egyptian army in mind (he assumed he would encounter Laban’s fifty), in the end it was not an army that Nephi destroyed, but a single man. Nephi became strong like unto Moses, following the archetype who set into motion the exodus of Israel from Egypt. Even so, the slaying of Laban inexorably sealed the destiny of Lehi’s party as exiles from the land of Jerusalem until they likewise arrived at their new Promised Land. In retrospect, the parallel between the actions of Moses and Nephi was surely strengthened by the fact that both had been involved in the excusable killing of a man.” (John W. Welch, “Legal Perspectives on the Slaying of Laban,” FARMS Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, vol. 1, no. 1 (Fall 1992), 139)