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What meaneth the rod of iron?
1 Nephi 15:23
In 1 Nephi 15, we read a question posed by Nephi’s “brethren . . . [as] they were disputing one with another concerning the things which [Lehi] had spoken unto them” (1 Nephi 15:2). They were discussing Lehi’s dream, and they asked, “What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw, that led to the tree?” (1 Nephi 15:23). Nephi answered that “it was the word of God.” Nephi knew that the word of God was vital. He had seen in vision that the only ones who reached the tree of life were those who held to the iron rod (1 Nephi 11:25). He told his brothers that “whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish” (1 Nephi 15:24).
It is common to interpret “the word of God” as referring to the scriptures. This is undoubtedly one correct interpretation, but popular Latter-day Saint author Brent L. Top provided another perspective.1 He presented 1 Nephi 15:24, about holding to the iron rod, in connection with the New Testament scripture that reads, “And the Word [meaning Jesus Christ] was made flesh” (John 1:14). Understanding the connection between these two scriptures allows us to visualize grasping the iron rod as taking hold of the arm of Jesus Christ. The only way any of us can make it to the tree of eternal life is by holding on to the Savior and being infused with His power (Philippians 4:13).
Brother Top learned this in a very meaningful and personal way. When he was called to serve as a mission president, he found the demands of the position to be much more difficult than any previous calling he had been given. A sense of inadequacy enveloped him as he and his wife participated in the new mission presidents’ training seminar. Brother Top wrote, “As I looked around the room at the other mission presidents and their wives, I felt like I didn’t belong—that I was out of my league, that I was a struggling T-ball player and they were all-star major leaguers. . . . I was overwhelmed with feelings of self-doubt and fear that I would ‘mess up.’”2
The training was meant to help and comfort him, but instead, he found the next few days terrifying and overwhelming. The list of “gotta do’s” and “oughta be’s” seemed like a mountain of impossible expectations that he could never conquer. When he arrived in his mission, things got worse. The demands seemed relentless, and there was more to learn and do than Brother Top had time or energy for. He wrote, “Sometimes I felt that being a mission president was like playing the Whack-a-mole game at the arcade—you whack down one problem and immediately two more pop up. Instead of experiencing the joy the Lord has promised to those in His service, I felt bogged down, overburdened, and burned out. I wasn’t sure I would survive three years.”3
Brother Top knew that comparing his weaknesses and inexperience with others’ strengths and experience was not a good idea. Still, he couldn’t keep himself from falling into the trap. “We aren’t doubling our baptisms like the _______ Mission,” he thought. “I should be more like President _______.” “We are not doing all we should be doing.”4
All the pressure Brother Top was feeling built up until finally everything came crashing down upon him—the problems, the pace, the self-doubt all intensified until, one Sunday morning, Brother Top found he literally could not get out of bed. He later wrote, “I shook uncontrollably. My heart was pounding. I couldn’t stop crying. The thought of having to do one more thing or go to one more meeting or speak in one more setting filled me with a profound sense of dread.”5
As he shared this very personal experience, Brother Top called it a “breakdown.” He described it as “a breakdown of confidence, a breakdown of hope, a breakdown of faith. It was not only a physical and emotional crisis for me, but a spiritual one as well.”6
In Matthew we read that Peter saw Christ walking on the water and desired to join Him. But then the winds and waves overwhelmed the Apostle, and he allowed them to draw his attention away from Christ. He started sinking and called out, “Lord, save me” (Matthew 14:30).
On that fateful Sunday morning, Brother Top felt that he, too, was sinking, and he cried out to the Lord to save him. Just as Christ rescued Peter, He also rescued Brother Top. “I had to learn how to grab hold of the outstretched hand of the Savior,” wrote Brother Top. “I had to learn through personal experience how to allow Him to rescue me.”7 Brother Top said that, for him, this meant learning to think more about his Savior and feel more grateful to Him. It meant serving, learning, trusting, and enduring. In this way, Brother Top felt “strengthened by the hand of the Lord.”8
Our personal learning may include the same lessons. It may include additional ones. Heaven’s tutoring is personalized to individual needs and circumstances. However, one thing is the same across all experiences—Peter’s, Brother Top’s, and each of ours: We can’t do it alone. Christ is the vine. We are the branches. Without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).
In Isaiah 41:13, the Savior promised, “I the Lord God will hold thy right hand.” Brigham Young University president Cecil O. Samuelson said to his students, “Because of the necessity of agency and choice, we must be the one to grasp, figuratively or literally, the extended hand. It is that outreached hand that we call grace.”9 These words give new meaning to a favorite hymn:
Guide us, O thou great Jehovah,
Guide us to the promised land.
We are weak, but thou art able;
Hold us with thy pow’rful hand.10
Speaking of the rod of iron, Nephi said, “Whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction” (1 Nephi 15:24). This statement is true of the word of God as found in the scriptures, and it is true of the Word of God, Jesus Christ. We can hold fast to them and be strengthened through every trial and temptation.
What meaneth the rod of iron?
Notes
^1. 1. Top, When You Can’t Do It Alone (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2008), 111–14.
^9. Samuelson, “Be Ye Therefore Perfect,” Brigham Young University devotional address, September 6, 2011; available at http://speeches.byu.edu.
^10. Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985), no. 83.