Jesus Christ Comes to His Temple
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Were temples built in other dispensations?
The tabernacle erected by Moses served as a portable temple for the Israelites in the wilderness. Later, Solomon constructed a more permanent edifice (see 2 Chronicles 2–5). The Book of Mormon also notes the building of temples (see 2 Nephi 5:16; Mosiah 1:18; 3 Nephi 11:1). Joseph Smith selected and dedicated sites for temples in Kirtland, Ohio; Independence and Far West, Missouri; and Nauvoo, Illinois. Only the Kirtland Temple was completed during Joseph's lifetime.
How did Joseph Smith know what to build?
Like ancient prophets, Joseph Smith knew by revelation the form the temple should take. While some proposed a log or frame construction, Joseph said: "I have a better plan than that. I have a plan of the house of the Lord, given by himself" (quoted in Lucy Mack Smith, History of the Prophet Joseph [1902], 204). Brigham Young testified that Joseph "received a pattern also, as did Moses for the Tabernacle, and Solomon for his Temple; for without a pattern he could not know what was wanting, having never seen one and not having experienced its use" (Deseret News, Apr. 16, 1853, 42).
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