Introduction

Behold, I have dreamed a dream; or, in other words, I have seen a vision.
—1 Nephi 8:2

It’s only thirty-two verses, or 982 words in length (1 Nephi 8:4–35), but it’s a life changer—an unforgettable and highly applicable metaphor. We call it Lehi’s dream. The basic elements of the dream: the tree of life, the rod of iron, the mists of darkness, and the ominous great and spacious building have become the subject of books, articles, lessons, paintings, plays, and hymns.

With very little effort, we can identify things that happen to us every day that remind us of the dream. It is, in one instant, specific to Lehi and Sariah’s family, and in another, universal to all the sons and daughters of God. Indeed, everything can be found within the dream—light and darkness, love and contention, agency and bondage, purity and filthiness, peer pressure and steadfastness, conformity and individualism, happiness and misery. It’s all here. All of life fits into this metaphor.

The Lord chooses his own methods of revelation, and he could have tutored his prophet in many different ways. He could have given Lehi a book to read (which he did in 1 Nephi 1:11), he could have taught him the doctrines and principles within the vision using words alone, or he could have shown him the elements within the dream. But the Lord didn’t make Lehi a mere spectator, watching and learning and taking notes from afar. Instead, the Lord taught his prophet by taking him out of the bleachers and placing him right in the middle of the action. Lehi became literally a character within the plot, and he saw himself and his family interacting in this miniature world.

Similarly, we can each find ourselves in this remarkable dream, which is exactly the purpose of this little book—to help us find ourselves within Lehi’s dream. Particular emphasis will be given to the great and spacious building, since it is, in large part, the world in which we currently struggle to survive.

The better we understand Lehi’s dream, the better we will be able to hold fast on our way, recognizing the lures, temptations, and mists of darkness for what they are, and arrive—and remain—at the tree of life.

So, here’s how we will approach our topic: First, we’ll look at Lehi’s dream, and each element within it, verse by verse, with ideas on how we might apply what we’re learning. Next, we’ll try to determine what the voices in the great and spacious building were actually saying, and why they had such power to lure partakers away from the tree. Finally, we’ll examine how we might be strong enough to “heed not” the scoffing and derision, and instead seek “tree-of-life moments” in our lives.