In Jacob's discourse on the Lord's covenant atonement for sin, Jacob speaks of the Lord himself delivering His people from the grasp of "that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment" (2 Nephi 9:26). According to Avraham Gileadi, Jacob builds on a background of the ancient Near Eastern suzerain (lord) -- vassal (servant) covenant relationship and transforms ancient Near Eastern personifications of chaos into "that awful monster" and "the devil," the common enemies of God and man.
According to the terms of these suzerain-vassal covenant relationships, the suzerain (lord) is bound by the covenant to protect the vassal (servant) by undertaking to annihilate a common enemy, provided the vassal remains loyal to the suzerain, does not recognize another as suzerain, and reports any evil word against the suzerain.
The first of the Ten Commandments seeks to ensure that the Lord's people recognize no other divine suzerain: "Thou shalt have no other God before me" (Mosiah 12:35; compare Exodus 20:3). Moreover, we find that the common enemy that threatens the Lord's people--the enemy that God himself must come and annihilate--is death (Mosiah 13:28; 15:1-8). In other words, though political powers may threaten them, the people's ultimate enemy is death itself.
This aspect of covenant theology possesses a mythical flavor. Ancient Near Eastern literatures personify Death as a god of chaos whom the righteous god must conquer. His doing so establishes harmony in the earth and enables him to assume the throne of a higher deity.
In order to conquer death, therefore, the Lord must come to the aid of his vassal whom death threatens. God himself, in other words, must come down to mortality and face "that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil," the common enemies of God and man. [Avraham Gileadi, The Last Days: Types and Shadows from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, pp. 181,235]