With the total demise of the Jaredite civilization Ether was commanded to complete his record and hide it up in such a way as to be found by a future people. Moroni recorded that his abridgment of Ether’s account was not “a hundredth part” of the record’s totality. With his mission completed, Ether ended his record, not knowing whether he would be translated by the power of the Lord or would tarry until death upon the earth. The Book of Mormon does not tell which of these fates befell him, but to him it did not matter because he had at least a firm hope of eternal life and very likely had received the “more sure word of prophecy” (compare Mosiah 13:9 and Mormon 219; see also D&C 131:5).