The house of the Lord : a study of holy sanctuaries, ancient and modern, including forty-six plates illustrative of modern temples

Preface

Among the numerous sects and churches of the present day, the Latter-day Saints are distinguished as builders of Temples. In this respect they resemble Israel of olden time. It is not surprising that great and widespread interest is manifest respecting this peculiarity of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, nor that questions are continually arising as to the purpose and motive behind this great labor, and the nature of the rdinances administered in these modern Houses of the L^ord. To answer some of these questions, and to place within the reach of earnest inquirers authentic information concerning the doctrine and practise of Temple ministration, this book has been written.

By way of affording means of easy comparison between the Temple-building achievements of past and those of current time, a brief treatment of the sanctuaries of earlier dispensations has been included. A¥hile detailed information pertaining to ancient Temples and related sanctuaries is accessible to all, through c3xlopedias, Bible dictionaries and works of more special scope, but little concerning the Temples of today and the sacred service therein rendered has been published in separate form. The official ''History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" contains abundant data on the subject; but the information is distributed through m.any tomes, and is of access to comparatively few.

Among the special publications in this field, most of vrhich are primarily devoted to the histor}^ and description of the Temple at Salt Lake City, are the follov/ing :

iv

PREFACE

''Temples : Descriptive and historical sketches of ancient and modern sacred edifices/' a pamphlet of 28 pages, by J. M. Sjodahl, Salt Lake City, 1892. This covers the history of the Salt Lake City Temple to the time of the laying of the capstone, April, 1892. The pamphlet contains outline drawings.

''The Salt Lake Temple," an article by James H. Anderson, published in "The Contributor," Vol. XIV, No. 6, April, 1893, 60 pages with numerous illustrations of the Temple at different stages, together with details of construction, and portraits of Church officials and others connected with the erection of the great structure.

"Historical and descriptive sketch of the Salt Lake Temple," an illustrated pamphlet of 36 pages published J by the Deseret News, Salt Lake City, April, 1893. ]

"A Description of the Great Temple, Salt Lake City, ' and a statement concerning the purposes for which it has [ been built," a pamphlet of 40 pages, by D. M. McAllister, ! Salt Lake City, 1912. This contains half-tone engrav- 1 ings of both exterior and interior views. f

In the present undertaking the author has been the ( recipient of many courtesies and much assistance from i the officials of the several Temples, the Church Historian and his assistants, the general authorities of the Church, j and many others. To all who have assisted in the pleas- ! ing labor his obligations are respectfully acknowledged.

The photographs shoAving interior views of the Salt Lake City Temple are the work of the C. R. Savage Company, to whom thanks are tendered for liberal, courteous, and efficient service.

James E. Talmage

Salt Lake City, Utah, September 21, 1912.

Chapter I. A Pre-vie\v Of The Subject

A general view of sanctuaries of ancient and modern times . . 1 CHAPTER H.

SANCTUARIES IN EARLIER DISPENSATIONS.

The "Testimony." — ProA-isional Tabernacle. — Third Tabernacle. — Temple of Solomon. — Temple of Ezekiel's vision. — Temple of Zerubbabel. — Temple of Plerod 17

CHAPTER HI.

NEED OF TEifPLES IX THE PRESENT DISPENSATION.

Necessity of obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. — Authority to labor in behalf of the dead. — Temples required for vicarious service ........ 63

CHAPTER IV.

MODERN TEMPLE ORDINANCES.

Baptism for the dead. — Ordination and endowment. — Salvation and exaltation. — Degrees of glory. — Sealing in marriage. — Other sealing ordinances .... . . . 89

CHAPTER V.

MODERN DAY TEMPLES.

Temple-site at Independence, IMissouri. — Kirtland Temple. — Temple-site at Far West, ]^>Iissouri. — Nauvoo Temple . . 110

CHAPTER VI.

THE GREAT TEMPLE AT SALT LAKE CITY — HISTORICAL.

Beginning of the v/ork. — Early description. — Laying of the capstone.— Completion of the building and its dedication. — Dedicatory Prayer . ...... . 136 vi

CONTENTS

CHAPTER VII.

THE GREAT TEMPLE AT SALT LAKE CITY — EXTERIOR.

Architectural style. — General description. — Emblematical stones 172 CHAPTER VIIL

THE GREAT TEMPLE AT SALT LAKE CITY — INTERIOR.

The Annex. — Corridors and rooms of the Temple . . 181 CHAPTER IX.

TEMPLE BLOCK.

The Old Tabernacle. — The Tabernacle. — General Service Plant 201 CHAPTER X.

OTHER UTAH TEMPLES.

St. George Temple. — Logan Temple. — Manti Temple . . 208 CHAPTER XI .

Conclusion

The Lesser or Aaronic Priesthood operative in ancient Temples. — The Higher or Melchisedek Priesthood operative in Temples of today 233

PLATES.

Illustrations of Modern Temples , . . . . 239

CHAPTER I

Both by derivation and common usage the term ''temple/' in its hteral appHcation, is of restricted and specific meaning. The essential idea of a temple is and ever has been that of a place specially set apart for service regarded as sacred, and of real or assumed sanctity; in a more restricted sense, a temple is a hiiilding constructed for and exclusively devoted to sacred rites and ceremonies.

The Latin Templiim was the equivalent of the Hebrew Beth Elohim, and signified the abode of Deity ; hence, as associated with Divine worship, it meant literally the House of the Lord."^

Structures regarded in their entirety as sanctuaries,

« In this connection it is interesting and instructive to consider the significance of the name Bethel, a contraction of Beth Elohim, as applied by Jacob to the place where the presence of the Lord was manifest unto him. Said he, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el." (Genesis 28:16-19; read verses 10-22.)

or enclosing apartments so designated, have been reared in many different ages, both by worshippers of idols and by the followers of the true and living God. Heathen temples of antiquity were regarded as abiding places of the mythical gods and goddesses whose names they bore, and to w^hose service the structures were dedicated. While the purlieus of such temples were used as places of general assembly and public ceremony, there were always inner precincts, into which only the consecrated priests might enter, and wherein, it was claimed, the presence of the deity was manifest. As evidence of the exclusiveness of ancient temples, even those of heathen origin, we find that the altar of pagan worship stood not within the temple proper, but in front of the entrance. Temples have never been regarded as places of ordinary public assembly, but as sacred enclosures consecrated to the most solemn ceremonials of that particular system of worship, idolatrous or Divine, of which the temple stood as visible symbol and material type.

In olden times the people of Israel were distinguished among nations as the builders of sanctuaries to the name of the living God. This service was specifically required of them by Jehovah, whom they professed to serve. The history of Israel as a nation dates from the exodus. During the two centuries of their enslavement in Egypt, the children of Jacob had grown to be a numerous and powerful people ; nevertheless they were in bondage. In due time, however, their sorrows and supplications came up before the Lord, and He led them forth by the outstretched arm of power. No sooner had they escaped from the environment of Egyptian idolatry, than they were required to prepare a sanctuary, wherein Jehovah would manifest His presence and make known His will as their accepted Lord and King.

The Tabernacle, which from the time of its construction in the wilderness and thence onward throughout the period of wandering and for centuries thereafter, was sacred to Israel as the sanctuary of Jehovah, had been built according to revealed plan and specifications. It was a compact and portable structure as the exigencies of migration required. Though the Tabernacle was but a tent, it was made of the best, the most prized, and the costliest materials the people possessed. This condition of excellence was appropriate and fitting, for the finished structure was a nation's offering unto the Lord. Its construction was prescribed in minutest detail, both as to design and material; it was in every respect the best the people could give, and Jehovah sanctified the proffered gift by His divine acceptance. In passing, let us be mindful of the fact that whether it be the gift of a man or a nation, the best, if offered willingly and with pure intent, is always excellent in the sight of God, however poor by other comparison that best may be.

To the call for material wherewith to build the Tabernacle, there w^as such willing and liberal response that the need was more than met : 'Tor the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much."^ Proclamation was made accordingly, and the people were restrained from bringing more. The artificers and workmen engaged in the making of the Tabernacle were designated by direct revelation, or chosen by divinely appointed authority with special reference to their skill and devotion. The completed Tabernacle, viewed in

c Exodus 36:7.

relation to its surroundings and considered in connection with the circumstances of its creation, was an imposing structure. Its frames were of rare wood, its inner hangings of fine Hnen and elaborate embroideries with prescribed designs in blue, purple, and scarlet ; its middle and outer curtains of choice skins; its metal parts of brass, silver, and gold.

Outside the Tabernacle, but within its enclosing court, stood the altar of sacrifice and the laver or font. The first apartment of the Tabernacle proper was an outer room, or Holy Place; and beyond this, screened from observation by the second veil, was the inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place, specifically known as the Holy of Holies. In the appointed order, only the priests were permitted to enter the outer apartment ; while to the inner place, the "holiest of all," none but the high priest might be admitted, and he but once a year, and then only after a long course of purification and sanctification."^

Among the most sacred appurtenances of the Tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant. This was a casket or chest, made of the best wood obtainable, lined and overlaid with pure gold, and provided with four rings of gold to receive the rods or poles used in carrying the Ark during travel. The Ark contained certain objects of sacred import, such as the golden pot of manna, preserved as a remembrance ; and to this were afterward added Aaron's rod that had budded, and the tablets of stone inscribed by the hand of God. When the Tabernacle was set up in the camp of Israel, the Ark was placed within the inner veil, in the Holy of Holies. Resting upon the Ark was the Mercy Seat, surmounted by a pair of cherubim made

^Hebrews 9:1-7; Leviticus chap. 16.

of beaten gold. From this seat did the Lord manifest His presence, even as promised before either Ark or Tabernacle had been made : ''And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."^

No detailed description of the Tabernacle, its appurtenances or furniture, will be attempted at this place ; it is sufficient for our present purpose to know that the camp of Israel had such a sanctuary; that it was constructed according to revealed plan ; that it was the embodiment of the best the people could give both as to material and workmanship; that it was the offering of the people to their God, and was duly accepted by Him/ As shall yet be shown, the Tabernacle was a prototype of the more stable and magnificent Temple by which in course of time it was superseded.

After Israel had become established in the land of promise, when, after four decades of wandering in the wilderness, the covenant people possessed at last a Canaan of their own, the Tabernacle with its sacred contents was given a resting place in Shiloh; and thither came the tribes to learn the will and Vv^ord of God.^ Afterward it was removed to Gibeon^' and yet later to the City of David, or Zion.*

'^I Chron. 21:29; II Chron. 1:3. *II Samuel 6:12; II Chron. 5:2.

David, the second king of Israel, desired and planned to build a house unto the Lord, declaring that it was unfit that he, the king, should dwell in a palace of cedar, while the sanctuary of God was but a tent.-' But the Lord spake by the mouth of Nathan the prophet, declining the proposed offering, and making plain the fact that to be acceptable unto Him it was not enough that the gift be appropriate, but that the giver must also be worthy. David, king of Israel, though in many respects a man after God's own heart, had sinned; and his sin had not yet found atonement. Thus spake the king : "1 had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building : But God said unto me. Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood. Nevertheless, David was permitted to gather material for the House of the Lord, which edifice not he, but Solomon, his son, should build.

Soon after Solomon's accession to the throne he set about the labor, which, as heritage and honor, had come to him with his crown. He laid the foundation in the fourth year of his reign, and the building was completed within seven years and a half. With the great wealth accumulated by his kingly father and specifically reserved for the building of the Temple, Solomon was able to put the known world under tribute, and to enlist the co-operation of nations in his great undertaking. The temple workmen numbered scores of thousands, and every department was in charge of master craftsmen. To serve on the ni Samuel 7:2.

kl Chron. 28:2, 3; compare II Samuel 7:1-13.

great structure in any capacity was an honor ; and labor acquired a dignity never before recognized. Masonry became a profession, and the graded orders therein established have endured until this day. The erection of the Temple of Solomon was an epoch-making event, not alone in the history of Israel, but in that of the w^orld.

According to commonly accepted chronology, the Temple was finished about 1005 B. C. In architecture and construction, in design and costliness, it is known as one of the most remarkable buildings in history. The dedicatory services lasted seven da3^s — a week of holy rejoicing in Israel. With fitting ceremony, the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the sacred Ark of the Covenant were brought into the Temple ; and the Ark was deposited in the inner sanctuary, the jlost Holy Place. The Lord's gracious acceptance was manifest in the cloud that filled the sacred chambers as the priests Vvdthdrew : "So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud ; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God."^ Thus did the Temple supersede and include the Tabernacle, of which, indeed, it was the gorgeous successor.

A comparison of the plan of Solomon's Temple with that of the earlier Tabernacle shows that in all essentials of arrangement and proportion the two were so nearly alike as to be practically identical. True, the Tabernacle had but one enclosure, while the Temple was surrounded by courts, but the inner structure itself, the Temple proper, closely followed the earlier design. The dimensions of the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place,

II Chron. 5:14; see also 7:1,2, and compare Exodus 40:35.

and the Porch, were in the Temple exactly double those of the corresponding parts in the Tabernacle.

The glorious pre-eminence of this splendid structure was of brief duration. Thirty-four years after its dedication, and but five years subsequent to the death of Solomon, its decline began; and this decline was soon to develop into general spoliation, and finally to become an actual desecration. Solomon the king, the man of wisdom, the master-builder, had been led astray by the wiles of idolatrous women, and his wayward ways had fostered iniquity in Israel. The nation was no longer a unit ; there were factions and sects, parties and creeds, some worshipping on the hill-tops, others under green trees, each party claiming excellence for its own particular shrine. The Temple soon lost its sanctity. The gift became depreciated by the perfidy of the giver, and Jehovah withdrew His protecting presence from the place no longer holy.

The Egyptians, from whose bondage the people had been delivered, were again permitted to oppress Israel. Shishak, king of Egypt, captured Jerusalem — the city of David and the site of the Temple — ''and he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord.""* Part of the aforetime sacred furniture left by the Egyptians was taken by others, and bestowed upon idols.*" The work of desecration continued through centuries. Two hundred and sixteen years after the Egyptian spoliation, Ahaz, king of Judah, robbed the Temple of some remaining treasures, and sent part of its remnant of gold and silver as a present to a pagan king whose favor he sought to gain. Furthermore, he removed the altar and the font, and left but a house where once had stood a Temple." Later, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, completed the despoiling of the Temple, and carried away its few remaining treasures. He then destroyed the building itself by fire.^

Thus, about six hundred years before the earthly advent of our Lord, Israel vv^as left without a Temple. The people had divided ; there were two kingdoms — Israel and Judah — each at enmity with the other; they had become idolatrous and altogether wicked; the Lord had rejected them and their sanctuary. The Kingdom of Israel, comprising approximately ten of the twelve tribes, had been made subject to Assyria about 721 B. C, and a century later the Kingdom of Judah was subdued by the Babylonians. For seventy years the people of Judah — thereafter known as Jews — remained in captivity, even as had been predicted.^ Then, under the friendly rule of Cyrus^ and Darius-^ they were permitted to return to Jerusalem, and once more to rear a Temple in accordance with their faith. In remembrance of the director of the work, the restored Temple is known in history as the Temple of Zerubbabel. The foundations were laid with solemn ceremony; and on that occasion living veterans who remembered the earlier Temple, wept with joy.^ In spite of legal technicalities" and other obstructions, the work

Pll Chron. 36:18, 19; see also II Kings 24:13; 25:9.

^ Ezra, chaps. 1 and 2.

^ Ezra, chap. 6.

continued, and within twenty years after their return from captivity the Jews had a Temple ready for dedication. The Temple of Zerubbabel was finished 515 B. C, specifically on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. The dedicatory services followed immediately.^ \¥hile this Temple was greatly inferior in richness of finish and furniture as compared with the splendid Temple of Solomon, it was nevertheless the best the people could build, and the Lord accepted it as an offering typifying the love and devotion of His covenant children. In proof of this Divine acceptance, vv^itness the ministrations of such prophets as Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi, within its walls.

About sixteen years before the birth of Christ, Herod I, king of Judea, commenced the reconstruction of the then decayed and generally ruinous Temple of Zerubbabel. For five centuries that structure had stood, and doubtless it had become largely a wreck of time. Many incidents in the earthly life of the Savior are associated with the Temple of Herod. It is evident from scripture that while opposed to the degraded and commercial uses to which the Temple had been betrayed, Christ recognized and acknowledged the sanctity of the temple precincts. The Temple of Herod was a sacred structure ; by whatsoever name it might have been known, it was to Him the House of the Lord. And then, when the sable curtain descended upon the great tragedy of Calvary, when at last the agonizing cry, 'Tt is finished," ascended from the cross, the veil of the Temple was rent, and the one-time Holy of Holies was bared. The absolute destruction of the Temple had been foretold by our Lord, while yet He lived in the flesh.™ In the year 70 A. D. the Temple was utterly destroyed by fire in connection with the capture of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus.

The Temple of Herod was the last temple reared on the eastern hemisphere. From the destruction of that great edifice onward to the time of the re-establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ in the nineteenth century, our only record of temple building is such mention as is found in Nephite chronicles. Book of Mormon scriptures afiirm that temples were erected by the Nephite colonists on what is now known as the American continent ; but we have few details of construction and fewer facts as to administrative ordinances pertaining to these western temples. The people constructed a Temple about 570 B.C. and this we learn was patterned after the Temple of Solomon, though greatly inferior to that gorgeous structure in grandeur and costliness.-^ It is of interest to read that when the resurrected Lord manifested Himself to the Nephites on the western continent, He found them assembled about the Temple.^ The Book of Mormon, however, makes no mention of temples even as late as the time of the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem ; and moreover the Nephite nation came to an end within about four centuries after Christ. It is evident, therefore, that on both hemispheres temples ceased to exist in the early period of the apostasy and the very conception of a Temple in the distinctive sense perished amongst mankind.

^'Matt. 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6. ^See Book of Mormon, II Nephi 5:16. ySee Book of Mormon, III Nephi 11:1.

For many centuries no offer of a sanctuary was made unto the Lord; indeed, it appears that no need of such was recognized. The apostate church declared that direct communication from God had ceased; and in place of Divine administration a self-constituted government claimed supreme power. It is evident that, as far as the Church was concerned, the voice of the Lord had been silenced; that the people were no longer willing to listen to the word of revelation, and that the government of the Church had been abrogated by human agencies.^

When, in the reign of Constantine, a perverted Christianity had become the religion of state, the need of a place wherein God would reveal Himself was still utterly unseen or ignored. True, many edifices, most of them costly and grand, were erected. Of these some were dedicated to Peter and Paul, to James and John ; others to the Magdalene and the Virgin; but not one was raised by authority and name to the honor of Jesus, the Christ. Among the multitude of chapels and shrines, of churches and cathedrals, the Son of Man had not a place to call His own. It was declared that the pope, sitting in Rome, was the vicegerent of Christ, and that without revelation he was empowered to declare the will of God.'^

Not until the Gospel was restored in the nineteenth century, with its ancient powers and privileges, was the Holy Priesthood manifest again among men. And be it remembered that the authority to speak and act in the name of God is essential to a Temple, and a Temple is void without the sacred authority of the Holy Priesthood. In the year of our Lord 1820, Joseph Smith, the prophet

^ See the author's "The Great Apostasy," chap. IX. a See the author's "The Great Apostasy," chap. X.

of the latest dispensation, then a lad in his fifteenth year, received a Divine manifestation,^ in which both the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared and instructed the youthful suppliant. Through Joseph Smith, the Gospel of old was restored to earth, and the ancient law was re-established. In course of time, through the ministry of the prophet, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, and its establishment was marked by manifestations of Divine power/

It is a significant fact that this Church, true to the distinction it afiirms — that of being the Church of the living God as its name proclaims — began in the very early days of its history to provide for the erection of a temple.^ The Church was organized as an earthly bodycorporate on the sixth of April, A. D. 1830; and, in July of the year following, a revelation was received designating the site of a future temple near Independence, Missouri. The construction of a temple on this chosen spot is yet delayed, as is also the case with another temple-site in Far West, Missouri,^ on which the corner-stones were laid in 1838. The Church holds as a sacred trust the commission to build the temples so located, but as yet the way has not been opened for the consummation of the plan. In the meantime temples in other places have been reared, and already the modern dispensation is marked by the erection of six such sacred edifices.

On the first day of June, 1833, in a revelation to the

^ See the author's "The Articles of Faith," Lecture I, and references thereto.

See the author's "The Articles of Faith," specifically Lecture I, and notes thereon.

See Doctrine and Covenants 36:8; 42:36; 133:2. « See Doctrine and Covenants 115:7-16.

Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord directed the immediate building of a holy house, in which He promised to endow His chosen servants with power and authority/ The people responded to the call with willingness and devotion. In spite of dire poverty and in the face of unrelenting persecution, the work was carried to completion, and in March, 1836, the first Temple of modern times was dedicated at Kirtland, Ohio/ The dedicatory services were marked by Divine manifestations comparable to those attending the offering of the first Temple of olden times; and on later occasions heavenly beings appeared within the sacred precincts with revelations of the Divine will to man. In that place the Lord Jesus was again seen and heard.^ Within two years from the time of its dedication the Kirtland Temple was abandoned by the people who built it ; they were forced to flee because of persecution, and with their departure the sacred Temple became an ordinary house, disowned of the Lord to whose name it had been reared. The building still stands and is used as a meeting-house by a small and comparatively unknown sect.

The migration of the Latter-day Saints was to the west; and they established themselves first in Missouri, and later in Illinois with Nauvoo as the central seat of the Church. Scarcely had they become settled in their new abode when the voice of revelation was heard calling upon the people to again build a house sacred to the name of God.

The corner-stones of the Nauvoo Temple were laid April 6, 1841, and the capstone was placed in position

/ See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 95. s See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 109. See Doctrine and Covenants, 110:1-10.

!May 24, 1845 ; each event was celebrated by a solemn assembly and sacred service. Though it was evident that the people would be forced to flee again, and though they knew that the Temple would have to be abandoned soon after completion, they labored with might and diligence to finish and properly furnish the structure. It was dedicated April 30, 1846, though certain portions, such as the baptistry, had been previously dedicated and used in ordinance work. ]\Iany of the Saints received their blessings and holy endowments in the Nauvoo Temple, though, even before the completion of the building, the exodus of the people had begun. The Temple was abandoned by those who in poverty and by sacrifice had reared it. In November, 1848, it became a prey to incendiary flames, and in ^>Iay, 1850, a tornado demolished what remained of the blackened walls.

On the 24th of July, 1847, the "IMormon" pioneers entered the valleys of Utah, while yet the region was Alexican territory, and established a settlement where now stands Salt Lake City. Four days later Brigham Young, prophet and leader, indicated a site in the sagebrush wastes, and, striking the arid ground with his staff, proclaimed, "Here will be the Temple of our God." That site is now the beautiful Temple Block, around which the city has grown. In February, 1853, the area was dedi^ cated with sacred service, and on the 6th of i\pril following, the corner stones of the building were laid to the accompaniment of solemn and imposing ceremony. The Salt Lake City Temple was forty years in building; the capstone was laid on the 6th of April, 1892, and the completed Temple was dedicated one year later.