1 Nephi 22:17-20

After warning the wicked they would be destroyed if they refuse to repent and accept Christ, Nephi tells us the righteous will be protected by the power of the Lord.  “For the time speedily cometh that the Lord God shall cause a great division among the people, and the wicked will he destroy; and he will spare his people, yea, even if it so be that he must destroy the wicked by fire” (2 Nephi 30:10).  David told us, “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (Psalms 55:22).

Christ told the Nephites:

And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

In righteousness shalt thou be established; thou shalt be far from oppression for thou shalt not fear, and from terror for it shall not come near thee.

Behold, they shall surely gather together against thee, not by me; whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.

Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

3 Nephi 22:13 - 16

The “righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire” (1 Nephi 22:17).  Hugh Nibley explains:

The saving of the righteous "even if it so be as by fire" (1 Nephi 22:17) suggests some sort of counter-fire. That there is to be a segregation between those to be spared and those to be destroyed is clearly stated: After "the Lord God shall commence his work among all nations" (2 Nephi 30:8), then "the time speedily cometh that the Lord God shall cause a great division among the people, and the wicked will he destroy; and he will spare his people, yea, even if it so be that he must destroy the wicked by fire" (2 Nephi 30:10). This is the "cutting off" of the wicked from the rest of the people preparatory to the Great Overburn (1 Nephi 22:19—20).[1]

Richard Rust adds:

[E]ven the single images, like fire, are used to emphasize opposition. Fire accompanied Lehi's call to be a prophet just as it announced Moses' call at the burning bush. Whereas the righteous will be saved by fire, the wicked will be destroyed by it (1 Nephi 22:17) … Lehi's dream showed that the justice of God dividing the wicked from the righteous is like a flaming fire (1 Nephi 15:30). From that point on to the end of the Book of Mormon, fire operates in both helpful and destructive ways. At the extremes, the righteous will be "visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost" whereas their enemies will be destroyed by fire (3 Nephi 12:2; 1 Nephi 22:17).[2]

It won’t be long before these things occur.  It will occur to those who “will harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel” (1 Nephi 22:18).  So, the righteous will be spared and the wicked will be cut off from the presence of the Lord.

Nephi quotes Moses, telling us God would raise a prophet like him.  He will preach the truth to the people and those who reject His words will be cut off.  Who was this prophet?  The prophet of whom Moses spoke is Christ.  In the Gospels, we read testimonies of Christ.  After talking with Christ, the woman at the well testified, “I perceive that thou art a prophet” (John 4:19).  After hearing Christ’s words at the temple, “[m]any of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet” (John 7:40).  When the Pharisees questioned the blind man healed by Christ on the Sabbath, the blind man testified of Christ.  “They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes?  He said, He is a prophet” (John 9:17).

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[1] Prophecy in the Book of Mormon: The Three Periods, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed May 11, 2013.

[2] "Not Cast Off Forever" – Imagery, Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed May 11, 2013.