Again Nephi went into the mountain (for us, the mountain of the Lord, the temple) to commune with God and receive revelation.
“Thou shalt construct a ship.” The Lord preempted Nephi’s surprise by saying, in effect, I already know you have never constructed a ship before and you don’t know how— “after the manner which I shall show thee.” In other words, the Lord was going to tell Nephi step-by-step how to do it.
The archaeology of the ancient Near East confirms that Nephi lived during the Iron Age (1200–539 b.c.), so it is little wonder that he sought ore to make tools.