The Know

After Joseph Smith returned from Missouri to Kirtland, “the Saints were extraordinarily anxious to learn the Lord’s will about Zion.”1 Despite the overall righteousness of many of the Saints, some had apostatized while Joseph was away, and others who had traveled to Missouri with him had ill feelings about the state of the land Zion was to be located in. In answer to these concerns, Joseph Smith received Doctrine and Covenants 63, revealing the Lord’s will concerning the building up of Zion and the need to live worthily enough to inherit the blessings the Lord has prepared for the Saints.

After warning against various sins, the Lord promised the faithful that they would not only be able to inherit the city of Zion but also prepare themselves for the Millennium: “He that endureth in faith and doeth my will, the same shall overcome, and shall receive an inheritance upon the earth when the day of transfiguration shall come; when the earth shall be transfigured” (Doctrine and Covenants 63:20–21). As Casey Paul Griffiths has observed, the Lord’s reference to “the ‘day of transfiguration’ refers to the day the earth ‘will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory’ (Article of Faith 10).”2 Through these verses, the Lord set the following instructions for building the city of Zion in context of the eternal glories that life in Zion is preparing the Saints to receive.

One additional aspect of these promises of millennial glory is found in the second half of verse 21: “When the earth shall be transfigured, even according to the pattern which was shown unto mine apostles upon the mount; of which account the fulness ye have not yet received” (Doctrine and Covenants 63:21; emphasis added). In this verse, the Lord is most likely referring to events at the Mount of Transfiguration, in which  “Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light”3 There, the Apostles saw Moses and Elias, heard the voice of the Father declare that Jesus was His Son, and also saw Jesus in His full glory (see Matthew 17:3–9). Peter, James, and John were then instructed, “Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead” (Matthew 17:9).

While the Lord has not revealed everything that happened on the Mount of Transfiguration, some prophets have clarified what happened on that occasion. In 1839, for instance, Joseph Smith taught, “The Savior, Moses, and Elias gave the Keys to Peter, James, and John on the Mount when they were transfigured before him.”4 This would mirror Joseph’s own experience in the Kirtland Temple in which Elijah, Elias, and Moses appeared to Joseph and Oliver Cowdery. At that time, the two were also given priesthood keys (see Doctrine and Covenants 110). For Joseph and Oliver, this occurred in a holy temple that was accepted by the Lord. For Peter, James, and John, this occurred on a mountaintop, which could serve as a natural temple.5

C. Wilfred Griggs has also noted that the Mount of Transfiguration was closely connected to the temple in early Christian thought, as is evidenced in Peter’s declaration, “Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias” (Matthew 17:4). According to Griggs, this could be understood as the desire to build “a three-part temple,” especially because “the words used there are, in fact, the words used for temple in the Old Testament.”6 Even with the command that the participants were not to reveal everything from that holy manifestation, “enough is present to ensure the establishment of a temple context for this experience. The priesthood keys were therefore temple related.”7

Furthermore, some Apostles have discussed the events that occurred upon the Mount of Transfiguration in terms of the temple. Heber C. Kimball, for instance, explicitly connected the experience of Peter, James, and John to the experiences of all Latter-day Saints who are endowed in the holy temple in this dispensation:

Jesus took Peter, James, and John into a high mountain, and there gave them their endowment, and placed upon them authority to lead the Church of God in all the world, to ordain men to the Priesthood, to set in order the Church and send forth the Elders of Israel to preach to a perishing world. For the same purpose has the Lord called us up into these high mountains, that we may become endowed with power from on high in the Church and kingdom of God, and become kings and priests unto God, which we never can be lawfully until we are ordained and sealed to that power, for the kingdom of God is a kingdom of kings and priests, and will rise in mighty power in the last days.8

Joseph Fielding Smith likewise taught, “The Savior took the three disciples up on the mount, which is spoken of as the ‘Mount of Transfiguration,’ he there gave unto them the ordinances that pertain to the house of the Lord and . . . they were endowed. That was the only place they could go. That place became holy and sacred for the rites of salvation which were performed on that occasion.”9

Joseph Smith also hinted at this possibility throughout some of his Nauvoo sermons and writings. In an editorial for the Times and Seasons in September 1842, for instance, Joseph wrote that Peter was “endowed by the Lord.”10 Just over nine months later, Joseph taught again, “At one time God obtained a house where Peter was endowed.”11 These remarks came specifically in the context of temple ordinances being performed in Nauvoo, including baptisms for the dead, washings and anointings, endowments, and sealings.12 As such, Joseph clearly intended to convey that Peter was “the recipient of temple-related ordinances” and had received a temple endowment like those being performed in Nauvoo.13

Steven C. Harper notes that in addition to teaching that Peter had been endowed, “Joseph’s Nauvoo teachings strongly suggested that Peter’s more sure word of prophecy was a kind of knowledge he gained via a process of covenant making and keeping, mediated by templelike ordinances that led recipients ultimately to certainty of eternal life.”14 As such, Peter’s life and teachings recorded in the New Testament reflected an experience that all worthy Latter-day Saints could experience in the temple. The events on the Mount of Transfiguration appear to have had a significant impact on Peter, who later referred to the event as allowing the Apostles to be “eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16; see vv. 16–18).

The Why

In the temple, Latter-day Saints learn about the past, present, and future of the earth as they make covenants with God. These covenants prepare Latter-day Saints to live with God and return to His presence. Faithfully living these covenants will also allow Latter-day Saints to “receive an inheritance upon the earth when the day of transfiguration shall come,” just as the Lord has promised (Doctrine and Covenants 63:20). Furthermore, these covenants are made through Priesthood authority that has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith by Peter, James, John, Moses, Elias, and other angelic messengers.

As Latter-day Saints progress through the temple, they are likewise able to ritually enter the presence of God in the celestial kingdom. When the words in Doctrine and Covenants 63:20–21 are understood through this lens, it becomes clearer why the Lord stated, “The earth shall be transfigured, even according to the pattern which was shown unto mine apostles upon the mount” (Doctrine and Covenants 63:21). The future of the earth is glorious—it will become part of the celestial kingdom (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:25–26).

Ultimately, as Griffiths concluded, “While we do not know everything about what happened on the Mount of Transfiguration, it is clear that what was shown to Peter, James, and John was of great importance to the future of God’s children and to the destiny of the earth itself.”15 And while the full details have not been revealed, modern Latter-day Saints can continue to utilize the instructions throughout Doctrine and Covenants 63 and in the temple to prepare themselves for that glorious future day.