Salt Lake Temple

The Salt Lake Temple is the largest and best-known of more than 130 temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the sixth temple built by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth operating temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois.^[1]

Details

The Salt Lake Temple is the centerpiece of the 10-acre (4.0 ha) Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. Like other LDS temples it is considered sacred by the church and its members and a temple recommend is required to enter, so there are no public tours. The church permitted Life to publish the first public photographs of the building's interior in 1938.^[2] The temple grounds are open to the public and are a popular tourist attraction.^[3] Due to its location at LDS Church headquarters and its historical significance, it is patronized much by Latter-day Saints from many parts of the world.

The Salt Lake Temple is also the location of the weekly meetings of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.^[4][2] As such, there are special meeting rooms in the Salt Lake Temple for these purposes, including the Holy of Holies, which are not present in other temples.

The official name of the Salt Lake Temple is also unique. In the early 2000s, as the building of LDS temples accelerated dramatically, the Church announced a formal naming convention for all existing and future temples. For temples located in the United States and Canada, the name of the temple is generally the city or town in which the temple is located, followed by the name of the applicable state or province (with no comma). For temples outside of the U.S. and Canada, the name of the temple is generally the city name (as above) followed by the name of the country. However, for reasons on which the Church did not elaborate (possibly due to the historical significance and worldwide prominence of the temple), the Salt Lake Temple was granted an exception to the new rule and thus avoided being renamed the Salt Lake City Utah Temple.

Some think the Temple is intended to evoke the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem. It is oriented towards Jerusalem and the large basin used as a baptismal font is mounted on the backs of twelve oxen as was the brazen sea in Solomon's Temple.^[5] However this is only conjecture.^[5] At east end of the building, the height of the center pinnacle is 210 feet,^[6] or 120 cubits,^[7] making this Temple 20 cubits taller than the Temple of Solomon.^[8]

The location of the Temple is in downtown Salt Lake City, with several mountain peaks close by.^[9] Very nearby, a shallow stream, City Creek, splits and flows both to the west and to the south, flowing into the deeper Jordan River, which flows northward into the large Great Salt Lake.^[9] There is a wall around the 10 acre Temple site. The surrounding wall became the first permanent structure on what has become known as Temple Square. The wall is a uniform 15 feet high but varies in appearance because of the southwest slope of the site.^[9]

Temple construction and dedication

The location for the temple was first marked by Brigham Young, the prophet and second president of the church, on July 28, 1847, just four days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley. The temple site was dedicated on February 14, 1853. Groundbreaking ceremonies were presided over by Brigham Young, who laid the cornerstone on April 6 of that year.^[10]

Sandstone was originally used for the foundation. During the Utah War the foundation was buried and the lot made to look like a plowed field to prevent unwanted attention from federal troops. After tensions had eased in 1858 and work on the temple resumed, it was discovered that many of the foundation stones had cracked, making them unsuitable for use. Although not all of the sandstone was replaced, the inadequate sandstone was replaced by quartz monzonite (which has the appearance of granite) from Little Cottonwood Canyon, located twenty miles (32 km) southeast of the temple site. Oxen transported the granite initially, but as the Transcontinental Railroad neared completion in 1869 the remaining stones were carried by rail at a much faster rate.^[10]

The capstone—the granite sphere which holds the statue of the Angel Moroni—was laid on April 6, 1892 by means of an electric motor and switch operated personally by Wilford Woodruff, the church's fourth President, thus completing work on the temple's exterior. The Angel Moroni statue, standing 12.5 feet (3.8 m) tall, was placed on top of the capstone later the same day.^[11] At the capstone ceremony it was proposed by President Woodruff that the interior of the building be finished within one year, thus allowing the temple to be dedicated forty years to the day of its commencement. John R. Winder was instrumental in overseeing the completion of the interior on schedule; he would serve as a member of the temple presidency until his death in 1910. President Woodruff dedicated the temple on April 6, 1893, exactly forty years after the cornerstone was laid.^[10]

Symbolism

The Salt Lake Temple incorporates many symbolic adornments, similar to other LDS temples around the world. Symbolism is an important subject in the LDS faith.^[12]

The golden Angel Moroni placed on the capstone of the temple symbolizes the angel mentioned in Revelation 14:6 that will come to welcome in the Second Coming of Christ. The six spires of the temple represent the power of the priesthood. The three spires on the east side are little higher than those on the west: they represent the Melchizedek or "higher priesthood" and the Aaronic or "preparatory priesthood" respectively. The three spires on the east side represent the First Presidency of the Church and the twelve smaller spires on those three represent the Twelve Apostles. On the west side of the temple the Big Dipper appears, which represents how the constellation was used to help travelers find the North Star and help them on their way, in the same way the Temple is viewed as a symbol to help people find their way back to Heaven. On the east side of the Temple are "clouds raining down" representing the way God has continued revelation and still speaks to man "like the rains out of Heaven". Above each door appears the "hand clasp," which is a representation of covenants that are made within temples—a central point of the LDS religion. Around the temple there are several carved stones known as "sunstones" which represent Heaven, "moonstones" in different phases representing this life in its different phases, and "starstones" representing Jesus Christ. The center tower on each side contains a depiction of the All-Seeing Eye of God representing how God sees all things.^[13]

Temple Presidents

1. Lorenzo Snow, 1893–1898
2. Joseph F. Smith, 1898–1911
3. Anthon H. Lund, 1911–1921
4. George F. Richards, 1921–1938
5. Stephen L. Chipman, 1938–1945
6. Joseph Fielding Smith, 1945–1949
7. Robert D. Young, 1949–1953
8. ElRay L. Christiansen, 1953–1961
9. Willard E. Smith, 1961–1964
10. Howard S. McDonald, 1964–1968
11. O. Leslie Stone, 1968–1972
12. John K. Edmunds, 1972–1977
13. A. Ray Curtis, 1977–1982
14. Marion D. Hanks, 1982–1985
15. Victor L. Brown, 1985–1987
16. Edgar M. Denney, 1987–1990
17. Spencer H. Osborn, 1990–1993
18. George I. Cannon, 1993–1996
19. Carlos E. Asay, 1996–1999
20. Derrill H. Richards, 1999
21. W. Eugene Hansen, 1999–2002
22. L. Aldin Porter, 2002–2005
23. M. Richard Walker, 2005–2008
24. Sheldon F. Child, 2008–2011
25. Oren Claron Alldredge Jr., 2011–present

See also

• Most holy place
• List of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• List of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by geographic region
• Comparison of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Temple architecture (Latter-day Saints)
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah

References

Further reading

• Hamilton, Mark (1993), The Salt Lake Temple: a monument to a people, University Services, ISBN 0913535079 
• Hamilton, Mark (1978), The Salt Lake Temple: an architectural monograph, Ohio State University 

External links

• Official LDS Salt Lake Temple Page
• House of the Lord: Historical and Descriptive Sketch of the Salt Lake Temple by George Q Cannon, published in 1893
• A pictorial tour of the temple interior