“The Plates of Brass and Also the Ball”

As part of the important cultural inventory, Nephi specifically mentions the brass plates, the Liahona, and the sword of Laban (see verse 14). The separation of these items in Nephi's text indicates that he sees each of these items as items of intrinsic and separate worth. The brass plates and the Liahona have religious significance, where the sword of Laban is a very functional weapon.

This utilitarian understanding of these important artifacts will change over time. They will become a set, and are eventually used as tokens of the legitimacy of political power. The best example of this comes in the transfer of the kingdom from Benjamin to Mosiah, where the transfer of these relics is part and parcel of the transfer of legitimate power:

Mosiah 1:15 And it came to pass that after king Benjamin had made an end of these sayings to his son, that he gave him charge concerning all the affairs of the kingdom. 16 And moreover, he also gave him charge concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass; and also the plates of Nephi; and also, the sword of Laban, and the ball or director, which led our fathers through the wilderness, which was prepared by the hand of the Lord that thereby they might be led, every one according to the heed and diligence which they gave unto him.

The continued use of these relics as a set is indicated by their presence with the plates Moroni buried. From at least the time of Benjamin until the end of the Nephites with Moroni, these important items became much more that they were to Nephi.