On page 1 of the story, Shepherd Book comments on the Book of Revelation, written by John of Patmos (St. John the Divine). The Book of Revelation in the Christian Bible foretells the coming of an apocalypse, which it describes as the complete and final destruction of the world. It is unclear who the John the Apostle was who wrote it, though most modern theologians do lean towards John of Patmos.

    In the Book of Revelation, John describes the gates of pearl and streets of gold in Heaven, as Shepherd Book remarks on here.

Shepherd Book then remarks that the Book of Hebrews talks of a "better country" that God has prepared for the righteous, and in the Gospel of John, it is said by Jesus, "In my Father's house there are many mansions." This is correct.

On page 2 of the story, Book mentions the manmade floating islands of Bellerophon Estates. The crew of Serenity pulled a heist at Bellerophon Estates in "Trash".

The Shepherd comments on some verses in Matthew: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." This is from the Sermon on the Mount spoken by Jesus, as related in the Book of Matthew.

At the end of Book's sermon, parishioner Marguerite Gan plays the tune of "We Plough the Fields and Scatter" on the old pedal organ and the congregants sing the song to the best of their ability. This is an actual Christian hymn from a poem written in 1782 by Matthias Claudius and put to music by Johann A. P. Schulz in 1800.

Page 3 of the story reveals that mining is the primary source of employment and income on Haven.

The Culpeper family has a small ranch on Haven by the arroyo called Dust Creek.

The cattle on Haven can suffer from a disease called redspot that can be fatal.

Page 7 of the story mentions Book having trained to be a Shepherd at Southdown Abbey on Persephone. We first learned this in "Serenity".

On page 8 of the story, Book knows that Jonah is lying about his injured foot to cover up physical abuse at home, thinking, Zheng qi de gou shi dui. This is Chinese for "Neat pile of shit."

On page 13 of the story, Book thinks back to the abuse he suffered as a boy from his own father. Readers learned of this in The Shepherd's Tale.

Book recalls his father calling him hun dan as a boy. This is a Chinese derogatory phrase literally meaning "mixed egg", but is an insult along the lines of "son of a bitch" or "bastard".

Book's birth name of Henry Evans was first revealed in The Shepherd's Tale.

Page 15 of the story reveals there are coyotes on Haven. Page 19 reveals there are also Gila monsters and prairie dogs.

On page 20, Book smokes a pipe containing a mixture of jimsonweed and tobacco which he calls Serenity. While tobacco is a traditionally known plant for use in smoking, jimsonweed is less so, but is known for hallucinogenic properties when smoked.