The Jaredite story begins in the Middle East at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people at the tower of Babel (about 2200 B.C.) and before they were scattered throughout the world. Jared went to his brother, "a large and mighty man and a man highly favored of the Lord," to have him ask the Lord if He would favor their family and friends in not confounding their language. (Eth. 1:34.)
Their request to not have their language confounded was granted, but the people of Jared were still to be driven from the land. In response to an inquiry as to where they were to be driven, the Lord told the brother of Jared to gather flocks and seeds of every kind and, with relatives and friends, to go to the valley northward. There God promised to meet them and further direct them to a land "choice above all the lands of the earth." The Lord further promised that their people would become a great nation.The Jaredites obediently followed the Lord's instructions. They went to the valley they called Nimrod where the Lord gave further directions. They continued their journey into an area never traveled before by man, and eventually arrived at "that great sea which divideth the lands." (Eth. 2:13.) The Lord commanded them to build eight barges on which they were to sail to the promised land.
In A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, Daniel H. Ludlow wrote:
"The record of Ether provides only a brief description of the barges built by the Jaredites to cross the great sea. Evidently the directions for building the barges had been given by the Lord. (Eth. 2:16.)
"The only additional information provided is: (1) they were exceeding tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish' (Eth. 2:17); (2)the sides thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish' (Eth. 2:17); and (3) because of the tightness of the barge, evidently it was difficult to obtain either light or air.
"The difficulty of obtaining light was met by the 16 molten stones that were made to shine when they were touched by the finger of the Lord. (Eth. 3:1-6; 6:2-3.)"
The problem of obtaining air was solved through the Lord's instructions to place a hole in the top and a hole in the bottom of what some LDS scholars believe were apparently air chambers.
When the problems of providing light and air were solved, the Jaredites entered the barges.The Lord caused "there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land." (Eth. 6:5.) The Jaredites spent 344 days upon the water. (Eth. 6:11.)
