Jacob’s admonition applies also to every latter-day disciple: because our Lord has been merciful in giving us so much godly knowledge, let us remember him, lay aside our sins, and hold up our heads, for we, too, are not cast off. That is positive reinforcement and assurance of our good standing before the God of heaven.
Jacob noted that his family and his people were taken out of their original homeland but were now in a better land. Whatever they had to give up from before, that sacrifice was more than compensated by the richness and abundance of their new homeland.
Their journey to the promised land was through the sea, what we call the ocean, and they were then living on an “isle of the sea.” The primary meaning of the term isle in Jacob’s native Hebrew was “habitable ground” or “dry land,” as opposed to water. In other words, they were now living on a very large “isle” or continent, surrounded by seas in all directions. And great are the Lord’s promises to those who live on these isles or continents of the Americas.
The Lord has led various peoples of covenant lineage, groups “broken off” (such as the Jaredites, Lehites, and Mulekites) from his main concentration of covenanters, to accomplish his will and pleasure.