(Isa. 9:4; 1 Ne. 3:27–29)
In biblical times, the staff and rod were used by taskmasters on slaves. A yoke was a wooden frame designed to harness together beasts of burden. These three items—the yoke, staff, and rod—signify oppression, or the burdens placed on Israel by its neighbors (Isa. 10:5, 24–27).
In particular, the language of this verse recalls the manner in which Egypt oppressed the Israelites before Moses led them out of captivity. (For example, see “yoke” in Leviticus 26:13; “burden” in Exodus 1:11; 2:11; 5:4–5; 6:6–7; and “taskmasters” in Exodus 3:7; 5:6, 10–14). Just as Moses delivered ancient Israel from the Egyptian yoke of physical bondage, Jesus Christ delivers his followers from the yoke of spiritual bondage.
(Donald W. Parry, Visualizing Isaiah [Provo, Utah: The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2001], 79.)
Is it any wonder that Laman and Lemuel worked off their pent-up frustration by beating their younger brother with a stick when they were once hiding in a cave? Every free man in the East carries a stick, the immemorial badge of independence and of authority; and every man asserts his authority over his inferiors by his stick, which “shows that the holder is a man of position, superior to the workman or day-labourers. The government officials, superior officers, tax-gatherers, and schoolmasters use this short rod to threaten —or if necessary to beat—their inferiors, whoever they may be.” The usage is very ancient. “A blow for a slave,” is the ancient maxim in Ahikar, and the proper designation of an underling is ‘abd-ad-’asa, “stick-servant.” This is exactly the sense in which Laman and Lemuel intended their little lesson to Nephi, for when the angel turned the tables he said to them, “Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you?” (1 Ne. 3:29).
(Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert/ The World of the Jaredites/ There were Jaredites,ed. John W. Welch [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1988], 69–70.)