The brother of Jared, identified by Joseph Smith as Mahonri Moriancumer, was a Jaredite prophet at the time the Lord confounded the language at the great tower. Described as “a large and mighty man” and one highly favored of the Lord (Ether 1:34), he prayed at Jared’s request that their own language not be confounded, and the Lord granted it for him, then for his family and friends (Ether 1:34-43). When Jared asked whether the Lord would drive them from the land and where they should go, the brother of Jared inquired further, and the Lord promised to lead them to a land choice above all the earth and to raise up from their seed a great nation (Ether 1:34-43).
To provide light in the eight sealed barges built for the ocean crossing, the brother of Jared brought sixteen clear stones he had made from molten rock and asked the Lord to touch them so they would shine (Ether 3:1-20). The Lord touched the stones one by one with his finger, and the veil was taken from the brother of Jared’s eyes so that he saw the finger of the Lord. Because of his faith the Lord then showed himself fully, declaring “I am Jesus Christ” and that he would take upon himself flesh and blood (Ether 3:6-20). At that moment the Lord declared: “Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence” (Ether 3:13). This perfect knowledge was itself the mechanism of his access to God — “having this perfect knowledge of God, he could not be kept from within the veil” (Ether 3:20).
Earlier in the journey, after four years in the valley of Nimrod, the Lord came in a cloud and chastened the brother of Jared for three hours because he had not called on the Lord’s name (Ether 2:14). After he was forgiven, his people crossed the ocean, driven by wind for three hundred and forty-four days (Ether 6:11).
The Lord commanded him to write the things he had seen, including a vision of all the inhabitants of the earth, past and future, and to seal them up with two stones that would later serve to interpret the record (Ether 3:22-27). The writings were to stay hidden from the world until after Christ was lifted up on the cross and had shown himself to his people (Ether 3:21-28; 4:1-2). Moroni records the promise that any who exercise faith as the brother of Jared did “may become sanctified in me” and will receive the same manifestations he saw (Ether 4:7), making his experience not an unrepeatable event but a standing invitation to every reader.
The brother of Jared had twenty-two sons and daughters (Ether 6:20). When the people asked for a king, he warned them that it would lead into captivity (Ether 6:23). He died in the promised land, his death recorded in a single line alongside that of Jared (Ether 6:29).