Redaction: While 1 Nephi 19:1 begins a new topic (writing the plates), beginning a new chapter here creates an artificial separation from its context in 1 Nephi 18:25: “And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper.” In Nephi’s original configuration, there is a direct connection between finding ore and creating the plates. Nephi, writing years after their arrival, is acknowledging the causal connection between the two events.
Scripture: It is virtually certain that Nephi’s selection of a recording medium was directly influenced by the brass plates. (See the commentary accompanying 1 Nephi 5:14–16.) With the possibility that the brass plates might have actually been of bronze (a composite of copper and tin), the correlation between the color and the alloys may even have suggested the use of the tumbaga alloy (a composite of gold and copper, see Behind the Text: Chapter 6, “The Physical Plates”).
From a spiritual standpoint, however, the connection between the sacred writing on the brass plates and the sacred writings on Nephi’s golden plates had to be a conscious and vibrant connection for Nephi, given his role in obtaining the brass plates.