According to Joy Osborn, the importance of the Book of Mormon is not fully appreciated until it is recognized as the Stick, or Book, of Joseph. Since Joseph was given the birthright blessing over the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and this birthright blessing was continued with Joseph's son, Ephraim, and it was to be through Joseph that the house of Israel would be scattered and the people "pushed to the ends of the earth," it would be more surprising if a record was not kept by the tribes of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, than it would be to find that a record was kept. Israel's prophets were always instructed and required to keep a record of the Lord's dealings with their people. Why should it be different for the descendants of Joseph? Especially, when we remember that when Jacob, before his death, blessed the sons of Joseph, he declared: "In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim, and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh " (Genesis 49:20).
Jacob had declared that Manasseh would become a great people, but Ephraim, who received Joseph's birthright blessing over Israel, would become "greater" and "his seed shall become a multitude of nations" (Genesis 49:19). This blessing helps us understand why the Lord told the prophet Ezekiel that the stick of Joseph, or, the book of scriptures of Joseph, would be "in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows" (Ezekiel 37:19). [Joy M. Osborn, The Book of Mormon -- The Stick of Joseph, p. 7]