McConkie and Millet agree that the phrase should be read in its New Testament context, with which Joseph would have been familiar: “To cross oneself may mean to go against one’s carnal or sinful nature, to resist the pull of the fallen man. In this way it is similar to the Savior’s invitation to “take up [our] cross.” These explanations suggest that “cross yourself” might mean to deny oneself.
Anthropologist Richley Crapo made a suggestion in a broader English context: “Think of ‘cross’ as an X, the mark you make to ‘cross out’ something that is no longer of interest. Or consider the idiom, ‘Don’t cross me, or you’ll get yours!’ In this case, instead of crossing someone else, you are advised to ‘cross yourself.’ A better synonym than ‘deny’ would be ‘interfere with (someone’s plans)’ or ‘prevent a planned outcome.’”
Apparently, “take up your cross” and its connection to controlling or denying the natural man creates the concept which would have made its appearance, though Joseph Smith’s vocabulary, into that of the Book of Mormon. However, it probably does not reflect what the plate text actually said. The Nephite experience with the Savior is remarkably devoid of references to the cross. In the Old World, it was a terrible symbol of shame that had to be reworked to become part of the Christian tradition—being transformed from its association with a criminal and shameful death to a triumphant declaration of the dying and resurrected God. Neither the social pressures that defined the cross nor the pressures to reconcile them existed in Nephite society. (See commentary accompanying 1 Nephi 11:32–36.) The lack of cross imagery and symbolism is one of the hallmarks of Nephite Christianity.
Of course, Nephi had a vision of the crucified Messiah (1 Ne. 11:33), but there is no indication that the small plates text had much effect on the tradition recorded on the large plates of Nephi.