2 Nephi 12 is Nephi rehashing the writings of Isaiah as found on the plates of Brass. May of the writings of Nephi, especially 2 Nephi are copied from the plate of brass as Nephi absolutely loved the words of Isaiah and found the plain to the understanding. Most people don’t find Isaiah to be easily understood. I will do my best to explain according to my understanding.
2 Nephi 12
1 The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.
Isaiah foresaw the Salt Lake City in the last days and people flowing into Salt Lake City not just to see the temple but all that the headquarters of the church brings. Semi-annual conference is most definitely a time when all nations flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks—nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
When Christ comes, he will judge the nations and put an end to war.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord; yea, come, for ye have all gone astray, every one to his wicked ways.
The church will be a beacon in the last days where wickedness prevails.
6 Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and hearken unto soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
The children of Israel worldwide have strayed from God and follow not after him.
7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.
The nations of the seed of Abraham prosper. Militaries are strong.
8 Their land is also full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.
But children of Israel are caught up in the riches of the world.
9 And the mean man boweth not down, and the great man humbleth himself not, therefore, forgive him not.
10 O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty shall smite thee.
I am not certain of this one and the cause. It seems to match with Revelations 6:15-16. This may be a future event that ends the 6th seal. I am starting to think maybe the 6th seal is not passed and we are still in it as this verse seems to indicate it.
11 And it shall come to pass that the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
The plagues of the 7th Seal will come and the circumstances of man will be lessened.
12 For the day of the Lord of Hosts soon cometh upon all nations, yea, upon every one; yea, upon the proud and lofty, and upon every one who is lifted up, and he shall be brought low.
13 Yea, and the day of the Lord shall come upon all the cedars of Lebanon, for they are high and lifted up; and upon all the oaks of Bashan;
Great things will be brought low.
14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills, and upon all the nations which are lifted up, and upon every people;
15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall;
16 And upon all the ships of the sea, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the aglory of his majesty shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he hath made for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the majesty of his glory shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?
14 to 22 are all about the plagues and fears that will come upon man. What seems apparent to me is that the hiding in the rocks and the mountains will be a sign that the plagues and the seventh seal are upon us. There may be one event that begins the hiding in the mountains and rocks, but it will be in conjunction with the plagues of the last days that will soon come upon us.
As for today, I am beginning to change my tune about us being in the seventh seal. It may be soon upon us but we are not there yet. Boyd K Packard in his talk to the Youth in October of 2011 made that pretty clear. For he too once thought when he was young that we were going into the seventh seal, but he was premature. Look for everyone hiding in the mountains and the rocks. The Cuban missile crises was not it. Nuclear weapons from Iran? Maybe….