Geographic: Mormon gives us a picture of what Moroni considered the Nephite lands. They extend south from the land of Desolation, which was the Nephite term for the Jaredite lands (Alma 22:30). This gives us a northernmost border. What we do not get in this description, however, is the southern border. Moroni considers “all the land” to be “on the north and on the south.” This suggests that Moroni is located somewhere nearer the center than the edges of the land, and that he is giving a northernmost limit to that land. What he does not give is the southern border, and that may be implicit in that it is the disputed land between the Lamanites and the Nephites.
Moroni’s designation of this limited land as a “chosen land” is clearly evocative of Lehi’s promise upon the land:
2 Nephi 1:5-7
5 But, said he, notwithstanding our afflictions, we have obtained a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God hath covenanted with me should be a land for the inheritance of my seed. Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever, and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord.
6 Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.
7 Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.
Moroni takes the two foundational themes for the relationship of the Nephites to the land, that it is a land of promise, or a chosen land, and that it is a land of liberty. By extracting these and placing them on the banner he was invoking the promise of the Lord to the people, and reminding them of their heritage and the promise of their God to them.
Variant: Up until the 1920 edition, this verse read “he gave all the land which was south….” The intended meaning of “gave” is clearly to “give as a name” and so the alteration simply clarifies that meaning instead of leaving the more ambiguous word, “gave.”