According to George Potter and Richard Wellington, since the tree which Lehi saw in his dream was the Tree of Life, we can conclude that the “large and spacious field” (1 Nephi 8:9) was a representation of the Garden of Eden. Corbin T. Volluz has outlined some similarities between the large and spacious field in the dream and the Garden of Eden. His comments are interesting in light of the fact that our proposed site for the “large and spacious field” in the upper valley of wadi Tayyib al-Ism has only one entrance and that is on the east end.
Abraham informs us that the tree of life was in the midst of the garden (Abraham 5:9; see also Revelation 2:7). Yet, when God cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden he placed Cherubim with the flaming sword not in the midst of the garden, as one might expect, but “eastward in Eden” (Moses 4:312); Alma 12:21; 42:2; Genesis 3:24)… . It is possible that the reason the Lord put the cherubim eastward in Eden to guard the tree of life which was located in the midst of the garden is because there was only one entrance to the garden and that entrance was located in the east.
Thus in Lehi’s dream the large and spacious field which contains the tree of life is a spiritual representation of the Garden of Eden. The upper valley would seem to contain a number of attributes that would make it a possible candidate for a type of the Garden of Eden. It is a garden situated in a “lone and dreary world.” It has only one entrance and that is on the east end. It is fertile compared to the surroundings, seemingly “terrestrial” among the “telestial.” It is enclosed by high mountains, making walls which would have given the impression of a self-contained, walled garden. It contains a river running through it. And it contains the palm tree, which is intimately associated with the Tree of Life, which represented the Son of God. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering the Lehi-Nephi Trail, pp. 59-60, Unpublished]
1 Nephi 8:9 I beheld a large and spacious field (Potter) [[Illustration] Entering the upper valley of Wadi Tayyib al-Ism from the east, its only entrance. [George Potter & Richard Wellington, Discovering Nephi’s Trail, Chapter 3, p. 12, Unpublished]
1 Nephi 8:9 I beheld a large and spacious field (Potter) [Illustration]: After offering his prayer Lehi beheld a large and spacious field. Looking down wadi Tayyib al-Ism one can catch first site of the first of the palm groves in the distance. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering the Lehi-Nephi Trail, pp. 68-69, Unpublished]