We learn in the first verse of this chapter that there were altogether eight of these huge barges by which the Jaredites expected to cross the great sea. It says:
We note that these stones are described as white and clear even as transparent glass. Back in Ether 2:23 it implies a knowledge of glass making. Actually, glass making is not difficult when the ingredients are known. The main substance is silicate sand or rock which is liquified with heat and fused with soda, potash, or lime. Because glass decays, the extent of its use in ancient times is difficult to determine. Obviously the sixteen stones prepared by the brother of Jared were not very large even though they would be required to produce a tremendous amount of light. He laid them before the Lord and then confessed that he as asking the Lord to do something marvelous for a people who had fallen so far from God's grace during the four years of beach combing, which had so aroused the wrath of God.