Joseph's enslavement prefigures the Savior's Atonement. Like Joseph, the Savior was sold for a small amount of silver. Like Joseph, He was betrayed by someone close to Him. That betrayal set in motion the very events through which He would save all of God's children, including His betrayers.
With the Rich in His Death
Two members of the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, prepared Jesus's body for burial and buried Him in Joseph's tomb. Their courageous service literally fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy that the Messiah would be "with the rich in his death."
Christ Our Passover
Jesus fulfilled the Passover principle. As an unblemished Lamb, He suffered and died so that we could be delivered from destruction and freed from bondage. Just as Jewish people keep the Passover feast with joy, seeing themselves in the story, Christians can find personal joy in their remembrance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
“Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?”
David's heartfelt description of abandonment provided the Savior with appropriate words to describe His loneliness on the cross. The words may not have dulled the pain, but they did connect Jesus with an ancestor who never gave up on God, even when he felt completely forsaken.
The Akedah: a Similitude
The Book of Mormon prophet taught that Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac "is a similitude of God and His Only Begotten Son." Here are some similarities between this event, known as the Akedah, and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Enoch and the Savior’s Ministry and Atonement
Enoch saw the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and connected it to his own sanctification and that of his people. Like subsequent prophets, he saw the Atonement of Jesus Christ as a manifestation of God's love that defied temporal constraints, blessing him and the people he loved millennia before it happened.
Unto All Who Would Repent
Joseph F. Smith learned that our state in the spirit world is not permanently fixed. The righteous continue preaching the gospel, and the wicked can still accept the gospel and receive the healing power of Jesus Christ, whether they are learning about the gospel for the first time or whether they have previously rejected it.
Adam-ondi-Ahman
Adam-ondi-Ahman is both a place and a state of reconciliation with God. Through Adam's fall, our connection with God was severed, but Adam's reunion with God at the end of his life and his future meeting with God at the Second Coming remind us that Jesus Christ can restore us to God's presence.
Our Emerging Redemption
The Atonement of Jesus Christ can uplift and purify us today, as Alma and King Benjamin's people can testify. This "preparatory redemption" foreshadows the perfected redemption promised in Doctrine and Covenants 45, when every wound is healed and every obstacle to our eternal joy has been removed.
“What Are These Wounds?”
Zechariah foresaw a man bearing wounds which he received “in the house of [His] friends.” The Savior's wounds raise the question: What scars have we unknowingly inflicted on our loved ones? Fortunately, He can heal every wound, including the pain we sometimes cause to those we love the most.