This expression has particular relevance to the people in the Book of Mormon. Moroni states in his preface that one purpose of the record is to assure the people “that they are not cast off forever” and to have hope in Christ. Some eighteen times in subsequent passages the phrase “cast off”—in the sense of spiritual separation from God through wickedness—is used in the Book of Mormon. Nephi, Jacob, and their future descendants are sensitive to the additional meaning of being “cast off,” since they constitute a branch of Israel separated from their homeland of Jerusalem and are required to live as “wanderers in a strange land” (Alma 26:36). They must continue their quest to one day be worthy of a place in the heavenly home above, where they will be integrated with their fathers in the presence of the Lord. Thus the words of Isaiah resonate with the Nephites—just as they have meaning for modern-day readers who rejoice in the Atonement and give thanks for the plan of happiness as a means to prevent being “cast off forever.”