book of mormon

Temple Imagery in the Book of Mormon

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Journey’s End - Derek Hegsted

Journey’s End - Derek Hegsted

The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship website has shared a quote from Hugh Nibley on their homepage today:

The word atonement appears only once in the New Testament, but 127 times in the Old Testament. . . . In the other Standard Works of the Church, atonement (including related terms atone, atoned, atoneth, atoning) appears 44 times, but only 3 times in the Doctrine and Covenants, and twice in the Pearl of Great Price. The other 39 times are all in the Book of Mormon. This puts the Book of Mormon in the milieu of the old Hebrew rites before the destruction of Solomon’s Temple, for after that the Ark and the covering (kapporeth) no longer existed, but the Holy of Holies was still called the bait ha-kapporeth. . . . It has often been claimed that the Book of Mormon cannot contain the ‘fullness of the gospel,’ since it does not have temple ordinances. As a matter of fact, they are everywhere in the book if we know where to look for them, and the dozen or so discourses on the Atonement in the Book of Mormon are replete with temple imagery. From all the meanings of kaphar and kippurim, we concluded that the literal meaning of kaphar and kippurim is a close and intimate embrace, which took place at the kapporeth, or the front cover or flap of the tabernacle or tent. The Book of Mormon instances are quite clear, for example, ‘Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you’ (Alma 5:33). ‘But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love’ (2 Nephi 1:15). To be redeemed is to be atoned. From this it should be clear what kind of oneness is meant by the Atonement—it is being received in a close embrace of the prodigal son. (Nibley, Approaching Zion, 566-67)

A Flaming Sword?

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Egyptian tree of life

Egyptian tree of life

When God drove Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, he placed cherubim and a flaming sword to keep the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). The Bible tells us very little about these symbols that were set to guard the way to the tree of life. Cherubim are commonly known as symbols for angels, or heavenly beings. But what is the flaming sword? What is its meaning?

Fortunately, God has given us the Book of Mormon, which has an extensive vision of the tree of life, which might help us understand what the flaming sword might mean. Bruce Webster has an excellent post over at Adventures in Mormonism about the potential symbolism of the flaming sword. Taking into account a possible typographical error in the text as discovered by Royal Skousen, Bruce says:

Combining Nephi’s descriptions of his (and Lehi’s) vision of the Tree of Life, we have ‘the justice of God’ represented as both a sword and a flaming fire — combined, a flaming sword — and in both cases keeping the Tree of Life from those who choose the world (the ‘great and spacious building’) instead of coming to the Tree of Life on God’s terms. . . .

What is perhaps more interesting is that we get through this vision an interpretation of the ‘flaming sword’ mentioned in Genesis — the justice of God, which prevents us in our willful state from approaching the Tree of Life. What the rest of Nephi’s vision tells us is that it is the love and condescension of God that gives us a path (’strait and narrow’) and a guide (’a rod of iron’) by which we can come and partake of the Tree of Life and thus enter back into God’s presence.

Andrew Miller also has some good commentary about this.

1 Nephi 1:1 – Temple Symbolism

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This first scripture is, no doubt, the most read scripture in all the Church, and possibly the most read from the LDS canon outside of the Church. Members of the Church have all read this scripture over and over as they begin reading the Book of Mormon and recommit to daily scripture study and finishing the Book of Mormon. We are familiar with the honor Nephi bestows upon his parents, his telling of the afflictions he suffered throughout his life, the way the Lord favored Nephi and blessed him greatly, and thus Nephi begins his record. This first verse of the Book of Mormon could probably be recited from memory by most members of the Church because of its frequent repetition. But did you know that this first verse, indeed the entire small plates of Nephi, might have overarching temple themes?
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