The Liahona's OTHER Spindle

[skater974]

1 Nephi 16:10

"10 And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness."

Has there ever been any latter-day revelation regarding what the OTHER spindle does?
This is not a question that will shatter my faith if the answer is "no". I'm simply curious, being an ex U.S. Navy sailor, and familiar with compasses and navigating.

[Sunday21]

@skater974. Are you new? If so, WELCOME! I always assumed that one spindle was used as a handle. Could be wrong though! 

[Just_A_Guy]

1 hour ago, skater974 said:

1 Nephi 16:10

"10 And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness."

Has there ever been any latter-day revelation regarding what the OTHER spindle does?
This is not a question that will shatter my faith if the answer is "no". I'm simply curious, being an ex U.S. Navy sailor, and familiar with compasses and navigating.

Welcome!

I wonder whether it may have pointed either a) in one consistent cardinal direction; b) to the nearest source of food/water; or c) the way back to Jerusalem.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Just_A_Guy

[Guest]

"Spindle" was often used to describe both the arrow as well as the vertical axis around which the arrow spun.  I believe these to be the two that Nephi described.

Edited January 28, 2018 by Guest

[pam]

6 hours ago, skater974 said:

being an ex U.S. Navy sailor, and familiar with compasses and navigating.

GO NAVY!!!

[zil]

57 minutes ago, pam said:

GO NAVY!!!

Beat Army!

[askandanswer]

6 hours ago, pam said:

GO NAVY!!!

Well if the Navy doesn't go its a bit of a problem because ships are generally meant to be mobile.  

[mordorbund]

The second pointer could have been used for the writing portion, with lettering around the circumference.

Or the first pointer could handle both, and the second pointer be used a parity bit so you know that it's working. Consider the case on the boat. How did Nephi know it was no longer working? Was it pointing back in the direction they came? Was it jumping around to multiple directions (the Living Scriptures animated telling of this story has the pointer spinning endlessly)? If the second is a parity, you knew you could trust the instruction/direction of the first arrow when the second is in a given quadrant (or some such thing).

[Rob Osborn]

Logically it makes the most sense that the two pointers pointed in directions. The "spindles" are referred to as "pointers" a few verses later.

28 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.

One pointed the direction they needed to go and the other pointed the direction of a known cardinal direction like "north".