Lengthen Your Cords and Strengthen Your Stakes (Sacred Site Part 5)

Exodus 27:9-19
9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward [there shall be] hangings for the court [of] fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side:
10 And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets [shall be of] brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets [shall be of] silver.
11 And likewise for the north side in length [there shall be] hangings of an hundred [cubits] long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets [of] brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets [of] silver.
12 And [for] the breadth of the court on the west side [shall be] hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.
13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward [shall be] fifty cubits.
14 The hangings of one side [of the gate shall be] fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15 And on the other side [shall be] hangings fifteen [cubits]: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16 And for the gate of the court [shall be] an hanging of twenty cubits, [of] blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: [and] their pillars [shall be] four, and their sockets four.
17 All the pillars round about the court [shall be] filleted with silver; their hooks [shall be of] silver, and their sockets [of] brass.
18 The length of the court [shall be] an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits [of] fine twined linen, and their sockets [of] brass.
19 All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, [shall be of] brass.

Isa 54:2
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;

Moro 10:31
31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.

The expression "stake of Zion," first used in the revelation given in November 1831 (Sec. 68) is taken from the expression in Isaiah: "Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken." (Isa. 33:20.) Again: "Enlarge the place of thy tent and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitation: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes." (Isa. 54:2.) Isaiah speaks of Zion as a tent, or tabernacle, having in mind the Tabernacle which was built and carried in the wilderness in the days of Moses, and the cords are the binding cables that extend from the tent, or tabernacle, to the stakes which are fastened in the ground. Now, the Lord revealed that Zion was to be built and surrounding her would be the stakes helping to bind and keep her in place. This figure of speech has almost been lost through the intervening years, but it retains its significance, or beauty. To speak of Zion, the new Jerusalem, or even that section where the city will be built as a stake of Zion is a sad mistake. Zion is the tent, the stakes of Zion are the binding pegs that support her. Zion, therefore, cannot be a stake, it would be as improper to call a tent a stake as to apply this term to Zion.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 4 vols., 2:, p.88

The concept taught in these verses is to make the whole world a Holy Site by taking the concepts learned in the temples and spreading them over the earth until the whole world is the Holy Mountain of the Lord (Isaiah 11:9) and suggests a Millennial habitation. As the Church builds temples and establishes stakes in all of the world the prophecy is being fulfilled which says to stretch forth thy curtains, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.

Abrahamic Covenant (Sacred Sites Part 4)

One of the major functions of the restored gospel is to prepare us to receive the blessing of the Abrahamic covenant. Elder Russell M. Nelson taught this:

Many of you have already qualified for endowment in the temple, and others will have that great privilege yet in the future. In the temple, with the authority of the sealing power, blessings of the Abrahamic covenant will be conferred. There, we may truly become heirs to all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Russell M. Nelson, Perfection Pending, and Other Favorite Discourses , p.206

One of the major functions of sacred sites is to administer the Abrahamic covenant. There are many aspects to the Abrahamic covenant including receiving the priesthood. However, there are two major components to the covenant - 1. a land of inheritance forever and 2. posterity as numerous as the dust of the earth (see Genesis 13:15-16). Number one is an intimation that man will become like his maker with the eternal power to create life (D&C 132:29-33). Number two is an adumbration that the earth is going to become a Celestial Kingdom (D&C 88:17-20).

These are sometimes referred to as the promises made to the fathers. So, sacred sites not only help us to conform to the image of the Son but also to become heirs of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These are promises that make us like our God so that we may inherit the earth as it becomes a Celestial Kingdom. Ultimately we truly have posterity as numerous as the dust of the earth and a land of inheritance forever as promised to Abraham.

What May Be Learned From Sacrifice? (Sacred Sites Part 3)

When the children of Israel entered the first court of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, the first thing they were confronted with was the altar of sacrifice. The outer court was equivalent with the telestial world in which we live. (see Institute Student Manual, Old Testament - Genesis through 2 Samuel p. 156). So also, when Adam fell and entered the telestial world one of the first things that he was taught was the law of sacrifice.

It is helpful if we put ourselves in the position of Adam to better understand his first sacrifice. He had just come from the Garden of Eden where nothing threatened his life and he did not threaten the life of any other animal. Now he is asked to take an innocent lamb, tie it up, put it on an altar of stone, slit its throat and burn it up.

I think of how I would feel at that time and the first thing that crosses my mind is that, "I don't want to do this." I see the knife as representing my sins which will inflict pain and death upon an innocent creature. And then it dawns on me, what are we all supposed to think before we sin? - "I don't want to do this." However, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so the knife must inflict pain and death on this innocent creature so that the sinner can see the end result of his sins. How does the sinner feel when he sees the dead lamb lying there? I know how I would feel, horrible, and then it again dawns on me - how are we supposed to feel after we sin? - Horrible.

I would like the results of my sins removed as soon as possible. A fire is put to the wood and the results of my sins are cleansed from the altar - thus the concept of the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. At the altar of sacrifice the sinner comes to understand his relationship with his redeemer and how his sins may be cleansed through Christ who is full of grace and truth and the power of the Holy Ghost.

Adam was further taught by the angel that he was to do all that he did in the name of the son. (Moses 5:8) Therefore, we see another sacrifice at the altar, where Adam uses his agency to no longer do his will but the will of God and act as if he were Christ. Thus Adam's will is swallowed up in the will of the Son of God. Adam is well on his way to conforming to the image of the Son. Omni, in the Book of Mormon, declares that our sacrifice, just like the Savior's, is to be our whole soul. (Omni 1:26)

One of the words in Hebrew for sacrifice is "Corban." The essence of the meaning of this word is to draw closer or nearer. In other words, the result of sacrifice is to draw the participant closer to the one for whom he is sacrificing. We see a mother's love as one of the strongest bonds there is in the human family. Is it because of her great sacrifice given out of love for her children? Christ's love for us is beyond our comprehension. Is his love great because of his great and last sacrifice for us?

If this is the case, then when Adam fell which created a breach between him and God, is it any wonder that one of the first law that God teaches Adam is the law of sacrifice to draw him closer to God and help close the breach.

In the Sixth Lecture on Faith, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that there is a direct relationship between sacrifice and faith,

"Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for, from the first existence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things. It was through this sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life; and it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. When a man has offered in sacrifice all that he has for the truth's sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to do his will, he does know, most assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrifice and offering, and that he has not, nor will not seek his face in vain. Under these circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith necessary for him to lay hold on eternal life."

According to this, if our faith is weak, one of the things that we can do to strengthen it is to sacrifice to help build the kingdom of God.

Anointing as a Type of Christ (Sacred Sites Part 2)

As pointed out in the previous posting, God is moving us to conform to the image of his son, Christ being the ultimate model for each of us (JST Romans 8:29-30). Christ is known as the anointed one. The Lord commanded Moses to anoint all of the parts of the Tabernacle including Aaron and his sons (Exodus chapters 30 and 40). By so doing each item anointed becomes a type of Christ or one who is anointed. The anglicized form of the Hebrew word for anoint is MESSIAH, and the anglicized form of the Greek word for anoint is CHRIST. So in English the term is Anointed One, in Hebrew it is Messiah, and in Greek it is Christ.

The Tabernacle and its appurtenances becomes, in a manner of speaking, a model of the body of Christ. In this posting we will look at the altar of sacrifice. It makes sense to anoint the altar of sacrifice because we know that it represents the sacrifice of Christ, thus it typifies him (the anointed one). Adam learned from the angel that visited him at the altar of sacrifice that it was a similitude of Christ who is full of grace and truth (Moses 5:5-8). In the next posting we will look at some of the possible lessons learned from the law of sacrifice.

Powerful Talk by a Pre-Teen

I am interrupting our presentation on Sacred Sites to present this video. This young lady (Lisa) gave this talk in a school speech contest. At first she was told that she could not speak on this topic. Finally her teacher allowed her to give the talk, some of the administrators told her that they preferred her to leave certain parts out of the speech, but she decided to give the talk as she had originally prepared it. It is an awesome talk especially considering her age.

Spiritual Preparation Through Sacred Sites (Part 1)

Since the Fall of man the Lord's efforts have been to prepare man to return to his presence. He gave his Son (Christ) to be a model for man to follow. Christ and his atonement are God's gift to us to close the gap between God and man created by the Fall. Therefore, when God gives a revelation to man it is designed to point us to Christ. Nephi put it this way:

2 Ne 11:4
4 Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him.

This verse gives us the major key to interpreting "all things" which God gives to man. Using this key we can better understand the Tabernacle that Moses built in the wilderness. A major function for all parts of the Tabernacle is to point us to Christ and to prepare us for God's presence.

Alma taught:

Alma 34:14
14 And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal.

In the next few online sessions as we walk through the Tabernacle step by step you may want to refer to the Institute Student Manual for the Old Testament (Genesis - Second Samuel) chapter 13, pages 147-156. If you do not have the manual you can access it from this site by using the link labeled (All Institute Student Manuals). In part 2 we will examine the anointing of the Tabernacle and the law of sacrifice as it was taught to Adam. We will use the model below or the one on page 156 of the Institute Student Manual to help us to understand each element of the Tabernacle.

Pre-Mortal Life (Part 7) final post in this series on pre-mortal life.

Dear Family and Friends, this video teaches the importance of our pre-mortal life in relation to this life. No one teaches it clearer than these leaders. Please spend the three and one half minutes needed to watch this inspiring video.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell's Testimony of Christ