This verse creates yet another tie to Alma’s conversion experience:
“At this point, we recall the angel’s instructions to Alma: “Go, and remember the captivity of thy fathers… . For they were in bondage, and [God] has delivered them” (Mosiah 27:16). (S. Kent Brown. “Alma’s Conversion: Reminiscences in His Sermons.” In: Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., eds., Alma, the Testimony of the Word [Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1992], 149.)
“The Captivity of My Fathers”
An angel told Alma to remember the captivity of their fathers (Mosiah 27:16). While the angel on that occasion specifically mentioned Alma’s New World fathers, clearly Alma extended his understanding to the captivity of Israel in Egypt as well. Why should these captivity’s be so important that an angel would remind Alma of them, and that he would associate the concept with more than what the angel required?
The captivity of the fathers was physical, but the captivity of his brethren was no less real for being spiritual. The fathers were delivered by God from their physical captivity, providing a clear model for the ability of God to deliver from spiritual captivity as well. The angel pointed Alma in the direction of remembering the captivity of the fathers to provide the model for the way that the Lord might save his children from such captivity.