I suggest that the physical object that Joseph had in his possession was not literally ancient gold plates, but plates of his own creation which talismanically represented the "gold plates" of his visions, aiding his mystical translation of those visions.
A new translation of Genesis 1, updating many ideas in terms of modern cosmology, but also in mystical terms of God's own Incarnation in and as the cosmos, and in all Life as well.
Lehi's dream in the Book of Mormon might be an esoteric mystical-allegorical account of Joseph Smith's own First Vision.
A translation where Jesus talks about why he teaches using metaphors and other symbolic tools, like stories, etc.
A translation of a non-canonical saying from Jesus about the location of the kingdom and how to find it there.
Paul talks about "Christ" as the One, and persons as the parts that make up that One.
A translation of Joseph Smith's insights, about the power of spiritual influence, and how it can easily be lost by ego.
What does it mean to see God's "face"? To see God "face to face"? Perhaps it is not the literal meaning that we often think it means.
We seem to often think that Jesus always knew perfectly that he was One in God, and that this realization never wavered his entire life. But did it?
This parable may have a better interpretation viewed through the lens of mysticism than the traditional "us versus them" approach.