“…methought I saw in my dream, a dark and dreary
wilderness. And it came to pass that I
saw a man, and he was dressed in a white robe; and he came and stood before
me. And it came to pass that he spake
unto me, and bade me follow him. And it
came to pass that as I followed him I beheld myself that I was in a dark and
dreary waste. And after I had traveled
for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he
would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies. And it came to pass after I had prayed unto
the Lord I beheld a large and spacious field.
And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to
make one happy. And it came to pass
that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was
most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was
white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen. And as I partook of that fruit thereof it
filled my sour with exceedingly great joy…
“…and I beheld a rod of iron, and it…led to the tree
by which I stood. And I also beheld a
strait and narrow path, which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree
by which I stood…and I saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were
pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by
which I stood…and it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness; yea even
an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in
the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost. And it came to pass that I beheld others
pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the rod of iron; and
the did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of
iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree…and I
also cast my eyes round about, and beheld… and great and spacious building; and
it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth. And it was filled with people, both old and
young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine;
and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards
those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit. And after they had tasted of the fruit they
were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away
into forbidden paths and were lost.” (1 Ne. 8:4-28)
I’ve grown up with this story. I used to watch a short animated movie about
this vision. As I grew older, I would
get to read further ahead in the story where Lehi’s son, Nephi, would pray for
an interpretation of the dream and he would receive his own vision that among
other things, included that interpretation.
This story is often used to descride our journey through life and the need to stick with our values, but I believe that there is more to it than that. I believe that Lehi's dream can teach us much about the temples and the plan of salvation that is taught therein. Let's focus on the plan of salvation first.
Going back to the creation, when God created Adam
and Eve, he planted a garden in Eden for them to live. “And out of the ground made the LORD God to
grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the
garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen. 2:9; italics added)
At the time, Adam and Eve were given a commandment
not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They could have any other fruit in the
garden, but that tree they were warned that if they ate, they would die. Satan, who “sought to destroy the world,”
(Moses 4:6) would speak by the mouth of the serpent to tempt Adam and Eve into
partaking the fruit. They did and as a
result, were subject to death and cast out from the Garden of Eden. And here’s the interesting part, God “placed
at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned
every way, to keep the way of the tree of
life.” (Gen. 3:24; italics added)
It’s fascinating to me how before the Fall, Adam and
Eve were only forbidden the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but after the
Fall, on top of being cast out, there was an especial emphasis not just
forbidding but barring them from the tree of life. They couldn’t partake of that fruit if they
tried. I won’t go into why this happened,
at least not today, but suffice it to say that “as they were cut off from the
tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth—and man became
lost forever, yea, they became fallen man.
And now, ye see by this that our first parents were cut off both
temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord;” (Alma 42:6-7)
Looking at Lehi’s vision, there was a great
concourse of people making their way to the tree of life, all of them
undoubtedly the posterity of Adam and Eve.
There was a path to the tree but because of the mists of darkness, they
lost the path and were lost. This
represents our own fallen state. In our
mortal life, the way to the tree of life is barred from us and despite our own
best judgments and wandering, we are still subject to death, both physical and
spiritual.
Thus enters the rod of iron. The rod leads along the path to the tree of
life, and even though the people could not see the rod, if they held onto it
the whole way, they would arrive. And
what does the rod of iron represent? In
Nephi’s vision, he said, “…I looked, and I beheld the Son of God going forth
among the children of men; and I saw many fall down at his feet and worship
him. And it came to pass that I beheld
that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God…” (1 Ne.
11:24-25)
Holding onto the word of God is what leads us
through the mists of darkness and to the tree of life. But what is the word of God? Usually, when this subject comes up in Sunday
school, the answers run the gamut from whisperings of the Holy Ghost to
scriptures, but I was convinced there was a deeper meaning to this, and I found
it in these here:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
“I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning,
before the world was; therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the
Word, even the messenger of salvation—the light and the Redeemer of the world;”
(D&C 93:7-9)
Taking these scriptures and Nephi seeing the Son of
God before finding the interpretation, I believe there is a case for the rod of
iron being a symbol of the Savior. If
Lehi’s vision can be viewed as a representation of the plan of salvation, the
rod of iron couldn’t be anything else. The
Fall is upon all mankind and the only way out of it is the Atonement of Jesus
Christ. “For as in Adam all die, so in
Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22)
Holding onto the rod of iron then means holding onto
Christ during this mortal probation. This
plays well into the vision; after all, the scripture never says that the people
ever saw the rod while they were traveling, just that by holding it, it guided
them to where they were supposed to go.
So, too, with rare exceptions does anybody ever get to see Christ in mortality,
and even for those who do, it’s merely temporary and they must continue their
journey by faith. The obvious question
then should be: how do we hold onto Christ while we live?
It took me a little while to see the connection,
although the Fourth Article of Faith helped to clear it: “We believe that the
first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third,
Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for
the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
I added the italics above because this was the
crucial connection. Baptism and the gift
of the Holy Ghost are the two ordinances, or sacred ceremonies, members of the
Church take part of. These ordinances
are covenants, or contracts, that we make with God.
Baptism is essential to returning to live with
God. In it, we covenant and promise that
we will take Christ’s name upon us, always remember him, and keep his
commandments. In return, God promises to
bless us with his Spirit, which will bind us to him. Binding ourselves to the Lord by being
baptized is how we hold onto the iron rod and that will put us on our way to
the tree of life.
Is that all that required? No!
While I can’t emphasize the importance of baptism by water and the
Spirit enough, it is not an end in itself but the start of the journey. The Fourth Article states that these are the first principles and ordinances of the
Gospel. By saying they are the first,
there leaves an implication that there must be second—or perhaps I should say further—principles
and ordinances of the Gospel.
Where are these to be found? In the temples.
The temple has many sacred ordinances and
ceremonies, among them washings and anointings, an endowment, and
sealings. These are all ordinances of
salvation. They are not things we talk about
outside of the temple, or we do so with great reverence and care, for these
covenants are matters of heaven and not for the world. There are things we are obligated not to
discuss outside of temple walls.
However, this talk is about what Lehi’s vision teaches us about the
temple, and in particular, the endowment ceremony. From here on, though, I rely entirely on
scripture, as I have before.
What is the endowment ceremony? It is a dramatic instruction of the plan of
salvation, teaching us about where we came from, why we’re here, and where
we’re going after this. It’s a journey
from Creation until we return to our Heavenly Father in his celestial
glory. As Gordon B. Hinckley, the
fifteenth president of our Church said, “[The temples] are houses of
instruction. They are places of
covenants and promises. At their altars
we kneel before our God, our Creator, and are given promise of His everlasting
blessings.”
Brigham Young, the second president of the Church,
would say of them, “Then go on and build the temples of the Lord, that you may
receive the endowments in store for you, and possess the keys of the eternal
Priesthood, that you may receive every word, sign, and token, and be made
acquainted with the laws of angels, and of the kingdom of our Father and our
God, and know how to pass from one degree to another, and enter fully into the
joy of your Lord.” (Discourses of Brigham
Young, pp. 395-396)
The endowment, I believe, is a gift of knowledge
that binds us even more to Jesus Christ, who is “the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” (John 14:6) just as the rod of
iron is the only way that leads to the tree of life.
Christ’s Atonement, or his sufferings in the Garden
of Gethsemane and the Crucifixion, pay for our sins and make us clean and able
to return to God. The covenants we make,
and this includes our endowments, bring us to him so that we can have the
Atonement work in our lives. As Alma
said, “Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified,
and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.” (Alma
13:11)
There’s a fascinating symbol at play here, in that
the righteous’ garments were washed white because of Jesus’ sacrifice. I didn’t know this, but “endow” comes from
the Middle English word “endouen.”
Another word that stems from “endouen” is “endue,” which means literally
“to put on (a garment) (Webster’s New
World College Dictionary, 4th Edition)
From the garments we promise to wear throughout our
lives as a reminder of our temple covenants, to putting off our worldly attire and
dressing all in white while in the temple, the clothes we wear is a symbol of
Christ’s Atonement for us.
When the prophet Jacob spoke about what happens
after the resurrection, he said, “Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge
of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous
shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness,
being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness.” (2 Ne.
9:14)
To me, the clothing we wear in the temple has always
borne a weight of glory and majesty, and or pureness and equality. I now contrast this with the apparel of those
who were in the great and spacious building of Lehi’s dreams. It is written that their clothing was
exceedingly fine, which when I read carries a feeling of wealth and prestige,
but also haughtiness and vanity. All
these things are short-lived and benefit none, least of all themselves.
In Nephi’s vision, he first sees Christ slain
because the people of the world took him and judged him, and they killed him on
the cross. And after Christ is gone, the
world gathers to fight against his twelve apostles. And after Nephi witnesses this, the multitude
of the earth are in a great and spacious building, and the angel who is with
Nephi in the vision says, “Behold the world and the wisdom thereof;” and Nephi
says, “And it came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and
spacious building was the pride of the world;” (1 Ne. 11:35-36)
The great and spacious building is set up opposite
to the tree of life, just as the world is set up against the Savior. Part of life’s test is in deciding which
group we will be party to, and we can only choose one. Jesus himself said, “No man can serve two
masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will
hold to the one, and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
(Matt. 6:24) (Mammon is a word
meaning riches, which is certainly what the world continually strives for.)
The world mocks the saints as those in the great and
spacious building mocked those eating the fruit of the tree. It’s important to note those who cast their
eyes about as if they were ashamed.
These are not weak people. They
held onto the rod and made their way through the mists of darkness. In the plan of salvation, these are those who
made their covenants with Christ, who had their endowments and learned how to
attain celestial glory. The fruit of
their labors was in their grasp. But
because they could not endure the mocking of the world, they cast it aside and
wandered into strange paths and were lost.
This is a clear warning to us who have had these
ordinances given to us. Is all
accomplished because we made it to the tree of life? No. This
scripture is telling us that if we do not live up to the covenants which we
have made before God, we are in Satan’s power.
The choice is before us as the prophet Joshua put it
before the children of Israel: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD,
choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers
served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites,
in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
(Josh. 24:15)
I know whom I wish to serve. Because I know what the tree of life is. In Nephi’s vision, he witnessed the virgin
birth of Jesus Christ, and the angel asked him if he knew what the tree
meant. Nephi answered, “Yea, it is the
love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men;
wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.” (1 Ne. 11:22)
We can go further than that. What is the love of God? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“…for God is love.” (1 John 4:8)
The tree of life represents God, as much of the iron
rod does, for Christ and his Atonement saves us from the Fall to live with him
in eternal celestial glory. That is the
reward of the righteous.
And what is the reward of the wicked? There is a symbol that is often overlooked by
almost all in the great and spacious building, and if it hadn’t been my
obsession with the works of Hugh Nibley, it would have been lost on me. Lehi saw the great and spacious building as
if it was built high in the air.
In Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, we read,
“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”
(Eph. 2:2, italics added)
Satan’s power is considered to be that of the
air. The air is formless, empty, and
holds nothing. In its full power, it
tears and rends. This is in stark
contrast to Christ, who in Ephesians is referred to as the chief corner stone
of the foundation of the church. As the
prophet Helaman said to his sons, “…remember, remember that it is upon the rock
of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your
foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his might winds, (please note
Satan’s symbol being the air) yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all
his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over
you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock
upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if
men build they cannot fall.” (Hel. 5:12)
Because Christ is our rock, he will always support
us. But Satan does not support his own,
and as Nephi saw, the great and spacious building, that which stood high in the
air “fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great.” (1 Ne. 11:36)
There is so much more that could be said. As I said before, I didn’t include all of the
details of Lehi’s dream nor what they meant.
I’ve some inkling as to how they fit into the plan of salvation and what
the temples teach us, but because my time is short and this is long enough, I’d
encourage you to read 1 Ne. 8 and 11 yourselves and ask the Spirit to reveal to
you what these scriptures teach. The
more I go over them, the more depth and beauty that I find in these passages.
