1 Nephi chapter 8

Okay, so this one is really interesting. In this chapter, Lehi has the vision of the Tree of Life. What I noticed and wondered about was that Lehi first saw a field, and then the Tree of Life, but he didn't notice anything else, until after he partook of the fruit of the tree; after which he looked for his family, and Sariah, Nephi and Sam came forth and ate the fruit. But it wasn't until after all of this that Lehi saw the rod of iron, and the straight and narrow way. We know through Nephi's interpretation of the dream that the rod of iron is the word of God, not only contained in the brass plates, but also in the scriptures that we have today. But why would Lehi not see the rest of the vision until after he ate the fruit of the Tree of Life? I've never thought of it before, but perhaps it is because he knew of the goodness of God in his life before he actually received the plates (I can't help but think, though, that it must go deeper than that). And the same would go for his family. Or perhaps he needed to understand the goodness of God in order to understand the rest of the dream. I really don't know. That's something that I'll have to think about a little more.