Where we are
Ether 4 is Moroni's meditation on the sealed vision, and it is the chapter that makes the brother of Jared's experience matter for us. Chapter 3 recorded the unveiling — the finger, the face of Christ, the vision of all things — and the command to seal it up. Chapter 4 explains what became of that sealed record and, more importantly, declares the terms on which it will one day be opened. Moroni traces its history (kept by Mosiah, revealed after Christ's ministry, now hidden again because of unbelief) and then yields the floor to Christ himself, who speaks directly to the latter-day reader. The chapter's burden is a single, electrifying offer: the great things shown to the brother of Jared are not locked away forever; they are hid up because of unbelief (v. 13), and they will be unfolded to anyone — Gentile or Israelite — who will exercise faith in me... even as the brother of Jared did (v. 7) and rend that veil of unbelief (v. 15). The chapter takes the most private vision in scripture and makes it the most universal invitation.
The chapter has two movements. First, the history and sealing of the record (vv. 1–6): the brother of Jared's writings were forbidden until after Christ was lifted up upon the cross, kept by Mosiah, made manifest after Christ showed himself, and now sealed up again with the interpreters because the people have all dwindled in unbelief. Second, Christ's own declaration of the terms (vv. 7–19): in that day that they shall exercise faith in me... even as the brother of Jared did, the sealed things will be revealed; those who contend against or deny the word are accursed; those who believe will be visited with the manifestations of the Spirit; and the great call goes out — Come unto me, O ye Gentiles... Come unto me, O ye house of Israel — to rend that veil of unbelief and receive the great and marvelous things hid up from the foundation of the world, sealed with the promise that the work of the Father will commence and signs will follow them that believe.
The verses that carry the chapter are these. Verse 7 names the condition — in that day that they shall exercise faith in me... even as the brother of Jared did... then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw. Verse 12 names the test of all good — whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me... I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world. Verse 13 is the open offer — Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief. And verse 15 names the barrier and its rending — when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief... then shall the great and marvelous things... be made manifest. The chapter exists to declare that the veil which the brother of Jared passed by perfect faith is the same veil every reader faces — a veil of unbelief — and that the sealed vision waits on the far side of it, available to all who will rend it by faith and come unto Christ with a broken heart.
The sealing of the record (verses 1–6)
Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared. — Ether 4:4
Moroni makes a striking claim about the magnitude of the sealed vision: there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared. Not Moses, not Nephi, not John — Moroni places the brother of Jared's vision at the very summit of all revelation. And he has written the very things the brother of Jared saw, then sealed them. The sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, therefore, contains the greatest revelation ever given to man — and it remains sealed. This is a remarkable thing for the record to tell us about itself: that the book we hold contains, locked within it, a vision greater than any in all of scripture, deliberately withheld. The sealing is not loss but reservation. Moroni explains the long custody — forbidden until after the cross, kept by Mosiah, revealed after Christ's visit, now hidden again because... they have all dwindled in unbelief (v. 3). The pattern is consistent: the greatest things are given and withdrawn according to the faith of the people, and they are withdrawn now because unbelief has returned.
Exercise faith even as the brother of Jared (verses 7–15)
And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations. — Ether 4:7
This is the hinge of the chapter and the verse that universalizes the whole book of Ether. The sealed vision is not reserved for one ancient man; it is offered to them — to us — on a single condition: in that day that they shall exercise faith in me... even as the brother of Jared did. The faith that tore the veil on the mount Shelem is held up as the standard and the key. When the reader's faith becomes like the brother of Jared's, then will I manifest... the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding... all my revelations. This is an astonishing promise: the same sight, the full vision of all things, is available to anyone who attains the same faith. The brother of Jared is not presented as a unique exception but as a model and a possibility. What he did, the Lord says, we may do — and the sealed portion will be opened to the people who do it. The chapter thus transforms the cornerstone of chapter 3 from a story we admire into a door we are invited to enter, by the same faith, on the same terms.
And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me... For behold, I am the Father, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world. — Ether 4:12
In the middle of the chapter Christ gives one of the most useful tests in all of scripture for discerning his influence: whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. This is a tool the reader can use anywhere — the measure of whether something is of God is whether it persuades to good. Mormon will state the same principle at length in Moroni 7 (that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually). Here it is given in Christ's own voice, grounded in his identity: I am... the light, and the life, and the truth of the world, and so every genuine good traces back to him as its only source. The verse also widens the chapter's appeal: even before the sealed vision is opened, the reader can know Christ by this test — by recognizing that every impulse toward good in their own heart is already a manifestation of him. The Spirit that persuadeth men to do good (v. 11) is available now, to all, as the first and surest evidence that the words are true and that Christ is.
Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief... Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world... be made manifest. — Ether 4:13, 15
Here the chapter reaches its summit, and the imagery is unforgettable. Christ calls twice — Come unto me, O ye Gentiles... Come unto me, O ye house of Israel (vv. 13–14) — and names the one thing standing between the reader and the greatest revelation ever given: that veil of unbelief. The brother of Jared passed a literal veil by perfect faith; the reader faces a veil of unbelief, and the same faith rends it. This is the chapter's masterstroke — it takes the veil of chapter 3 and relocates it inside the reader. The barrier is no longer a curtain in heaven but the unbelief in our own hearts, which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind. And the rending is specified: when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit (v. 15). The way through the veil of unbelief is the same way through every veil — humble, contrite, believing prayer in the name of Christ. The great and marvelous things are not far away; they are on the other side of our own unbelief, and the rending is offered to anyone willing to come to Christ with a broken heart.
The work commences (verses 16–19)
Therefore, repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and believe in my gospel, and be baptized in my name; for he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned; and signs shall follow them that believe in my name. — Ether 4:18
The chapter closes with the gospel stated in Christ's own voice and the promise that follows belief. The sequence is the doctrine of Christ as it runs through the whole Book of Mormon: repent... come unto me... believe in my gospel... be baptized in my name. And the outcome is the same the risen Lord gave at Jerusalem and to the Nephites: he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. But the chapter adds the note that ties it back to Moroni's coming argument about miracles: signs shall follow them that believe in my name. The whole chapter has been about things hid up because of unbelief; now it promises that belief brings not only salvation but signs — the manifestations of the Spirit, the unfolding of revelation, the rending of the veil. Unbelief hides; belief reveals. And the very last promise lifts the faithful reader to the same destiny the brother of Jared glimpsed: blessed is he that is found faithful unto my name at the last day, for he shall be lifted up to dwell in the kingdom prepared for him from the foundation of the world (v. 19). The chapter that began with a sealed vision ends with an open kingdom, prepared from the foundation of the world for everyone who will rend the veil of unbelief and come.
How the chapter is built
Ether 4 is built as a bridge from the ancient vision to the living reader, and the bridge is the doctrine that the veil is unbelief. The chapter opens looking backward — the history of the sealed record, its custody and concealment (vv. 1–6) — and then pivots, through Christ's own voice, to face forward, declaring the terms on which the sealed things will return (vv. 7–19). The structural hinge is verse 7: in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, even as the brother of Jared did. Before that verse, the chapter is about a record of the past; after it, the chapter is about a possibility for the future — our future. The architecture deliberately collapses the distance between the brother of Jared and the reader, taking the most extraordinary theophany in scripture and reframing it as a standing offer governed by a single variable: faith. The chapter is constructed to make us understand that the difference between us and the brother of Jared is not that he was granted something we cannot have, but that he rent the veil of unbelief we have not yet rent.
The chapter is also built on the repeated, urgent imperative Come unto me, and the doubling of it is the structural heart of its appeal. Come unto me, O ye Gentiles (v. 13); Come unto me, O ye house of Israel (v. 14). The whole human family is addressed, divided into its two great branches and both invited on identical terms. The structure refuses to let anyone feel excluded — the sealed vision is not for one favored people but for all who will come. And the invitation is bracketed by the conditions that make it real: faith like the brother of Jared's (v. 7) before, and the rending of the veil of unbelief (v. 15) after. The architecture surrounds the open invitation with the honest cost, so that Come unto me is neither cheap nor impossible — it is genuinely open to all, and it genuinely requires the rending of unbelief. The chapter holds grace and demand in perfect balance: the greatest revelation freely offered, to anyone, who will pay the one price of a broken heart and a believing one.
And the chapter is built to give the reader something to do now, before the veil is rent, through the test of verse 12. Christ does not leave the reader merely longing for a sealed vision they cannot yet see; he hands them a present, usable knowledge — whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me. This is structurally crucial. The chapter could have left the reader gazing at a locked door; instead it places, before the door, a means of beginning to know Christ today: recognize that every good impulse is from him, follow the Spirit that persuadeth men to do good, and the rending of the veil will follow. The architecture moves from the sealed and future (the great vision) to the open and present (the test of good, the Spirit's manifestation, the call to come), so that the reader closes the chapter not with frustration at what is withheld but with a clear first step toward what is offered. The veil of unbelief is rent not all at once but by beginning to follow the good — and the chapter ends by promising that the one who is found faithful will be lifted up to dwell in the kingdom prepared... from the foundation of the world.