Literary: Nephi follows Isaiah 29:10:
10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
Nephi is neatly tying together different descriptive themes. He has described the world as dreaming a “dream of a night vision,” and now he reinforces that image as well as that of the apostate world. Nephi likens the state of the world again to one who sleeps. This time, while echoing the image of the dream, emphasizes closed eyes of one who is sleeping.
Nephi beings with sleep imagery, but transforms the closed eyes of sleep into eyes closed against understanding. At this point, he reprises another theme from Isaiah:
Isa. 6:9
9 ¶ And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
The eyes that do not see are an image that Nephi constructs into his description of the modern Christian apostate world. This becomes the description of their profession of Christianity, but lack of true understanding of the Lord’s gospel (which therefore necessitates the words of Nephi’s people to restore them to that complete knowledge).
In order to emphasize the apostate nature of these people, Nephi also shifts the last phrases of the verse. Where Isaiah is following the imagery of those whose understanding is “covered,” Nephi transforms this from a description of the seers of Judah to the behavior of the apostate gentiles, who actively reject their prophets. Thus in Isaiah the prophets and seers are covered because they have apostatized. In Nephi, the prophets and seers are covered because the people have apostatized and rejected them.
The image of sleepfulness is necessary as Nephi resets Isaiah’s prophecy. This will be an expansion of Isaiah’s text. Once again, this is not commentary, but a recasting of the text into a new context. Nephi relies upon Isaiah not as a proof, but as a support for Nephi’s own prophetic message.