Toward the end of their lives all righteous parents wonder, “Have I done everything I can to teach my children and grandchildren what they need most—what will help them the most to return and live with our Father in Heaven?” Like Jacob or Israel (Genesis 49), every righteous father wants to bless his posterity one more time before passing on. The things of eternity weigh on their minds. Brother Skinner saw this for himself just before the passing of his father-in-law. The experience he and his wife had with that good man, and the blessing they received under his hand, was one of the sweetest, most sublime experiences of their lives. It was truly a modern-day example of father Lehi’s action as recounted in this passage.
We learn from 2 Nephi 1:15 that Lehi was sealed up to eternal life. By the sealing power he possessed, he left his blessing on his grandchildren, the sons and daughters of Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael. Eventually the curses those grandchildren might inherit would be taken from them and placed squarely on the heads of their parents, and the children would be redeemed by the purity and holiness of their next righteous ancestors.