Answers to Book of Mormon Questions, Sperry, pp. 47-51; Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, Ludlow, pp. 317-319; Answers to Gospel Questions, Smith, 2:123-125; BYU Studies, V. 30, No. 3; Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, pp. 122-123
“We would assume all of the major prophets living prior to the brother of Jared had seen God… . Adam’s face-to-face conversations with God in the Garden of Eden can be exempted because of the paradisical, pre-fallen state of that setting and relationship. Furthermore, other prophets’ visions of God, such as Moses and Isaiah in the Bible, or Nephi and Jacob in the Book of Mormon, came after this ‘never before’ experience of the Brother of Jared. But before the era of the Tower of Babel, the Lord did appear unto Adam and ‘the residue of his posterity who were righteous’ in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman three years before Adam’s death (see D&C 107:53-55). And we are left with Enoch, who said very explicitly, ‘I saw the Lord; and he stood before my face, and he talked with me, even as a man talketh one with another, face to face’ (Moses 7:4). We assume there would have been other prophets living in the period between Adam’s leaving the Garden of Eden and the building of the Tower of Babel who also saw God in a similar manner, including Noah who ‘found grace in the eyes of the Lord’ and ‘walked with God’ (Genesis 6:8-9), the same scriptural phrase used to describe Enoch’s relationship with the Lord (see Genesis 5:24)… . Surely the most persuasive—explanation for me is that Christ is saying to the brother of Jared, ‘Never have I showed myself unto man in this manner, without my volition, driven solely by the faith of the beholder.’ As a rule, prophets are invited into the presence of the Lord, are bidden to enter his presence by him and only with his sanction. The brother of Jared, on the other hand stands alone then (and we assume now) in having thrust himself through the veil, not as an unwelcome guest but perhaps technically an uninvited one… . (Ether 3:9,15) … Indeed it would appear that this is Moroni’s own understanding of the circumstance, for he later writes, ‘Because of the knowledge [which has come as a result of faith] of this man he could not be kept from beholding within the veil… . Wherefore, having this perfect knowledge of God, he could not be kept from within the veil; therefore he saw Jesus’ (Ether 3:19-20; emphasis added)… . This may be an absolutely unprecedented case of a prophet’s will and faith and purity so closely approaching that of heaven’s that the man moves from understanding God to being actually like him, with his same thrust of will and faith, at least in this one instance.”
(Jeffrey R. Holland, Nurturing Faith Through the Book of Mormon; 24th Annual Sperry Symposium, pp. 15-18)
“I have always considered Ether 3:15 to mean that the Savior stood before the Brother of Jared plainly, distinctly, and showed him his whole body and explained to him that he was a spirit. In his appearance to Adam and Enoch, he had not made himself manifest in such a familiar way. His appearances to earlier prophets had not been with that same fulness. The scriptural accounts of talking face to face and of walking with God should not be interpreted in the sense that the Savior stood before those prophets and revealed his whole person. That he may have done so at later periods in the cases of Abraham and Moses is possible, but he had not done so in that fulness in the antediluvian days. For the Brother of Jared he removed the veil completely. He had never showed himself to man before in the manner and way he did to that prophet.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:37)
“Why would Jehovah say: ‘Never have I showed myself into man’? First, perhaps the Lord was speaking of the total and complete manner in which he revealed himself to the brother of Jared. (Doctrines of Salvation 1:37; The Promised Messiah, pp. 47, 599-600). Second, Sidney B. Sperry suggested that the Lord’s statement may have to do with the principle that he does not reveal himself to men, (meaning ‘sons of men,’ unbelieving men); he only reveals himself to believers, to those who trust in and rely on him, who like Moriancumer, become redeemed from the Fall (Answers to Book of Mormon Questions, p. 49). Third, Daniel H. Ludlow has written: ‘Another possible interpretation is that Jesus Christ … is essentially saying in Ether 3:15 that he has never had to show himself unto man before’ (A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, p. 318). Fourth, President Harold B. Lee suggested that the uniqueness of Moriancumer’s experience lay in the fact that he saw the Lord Jesus as he would be, that is, he saw a vision of Christ as his body would be, that is during his mortal ministry in some two thousand years. (To Be on Speaking Terms with God, pp. 8-9). Fifth, … it may be that this is the first occasion in history … when Jehovah manifested himself as Jesus Christ, the Son. Before this time he had made himself known by speaking to such persons as Adam (Moses 6), Enoch (Moses 6-7), and Noah (Moses 8) in the language and person of the Father, by divine investiture of authority… . Finally, perhaps the matter is simpler than we had supposed. Could it be that the pronouncement is a relative statement, that it pertains only to the Jaredites? That is, it may be that Jehovah was explaining, in essence, ‘Never before have I showed myself to anyone in your dispensation, the Jaredite dispensation.’” (R. Millet, J. F. McConkie, and B. Top, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 4:276-278)