Jesus called forth and blessed the Nephite children just as he had done previously during his mortal ministry in the Old World.
His love for little children is not only evidence of his divine compassion but was and is also symbolic of the requirements of the gospel. The Savior reminds us That in order to partake of his greatest blessing, even eternal life, ye must “be converted and become as little children” (Matthew 18:3).
The tender mercies extended by the Savior and his blessings of the little children serve also as a symbolic teaching that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we are able to put off the natural man and become as little children (see Mosiah 3:19)-literally born again as the spiritual sons and daughters of Jesus Christ (see Mosiah 5:7; Mosiah 27:25; see also Commentary 2:173).