Approaching the Temple Summary

I wrote a long post about the temple. It is close to twelve thousand words, and I know that is a lot to ask.

So this is the short version. It is meant for three kinds of people: someone getting ready to go for the first time who wants the shape of it before the details; someone who has gone and wants to know whether the long post is worth the time; and anyone who is helping somebody else get ready — a parent the night before, a bishop, whoever teaches temple prep in your ward.

Each section below matches a section of the full post. If one of them catches you, go read that section. You do not have to read the whole thing in order, or at all.

FULL POST

Framework

Two guidelines from Elder Bednar, from his April 2019 conference talk, are what make this kind of conversation possible:

We should not disclose or describe the special symbols associated with the covenants, and we should not discuss what we specifically promise not to reveal.

We may discuss the basic purposes of and the doctrine and principles associated with temple ordinances and covenants.

Most of us act as though only the first guideline exists. The second one is enormous, and it is why I felt comfortable writing any of this.

Section 1 — The Temple Is Supposed to Be Different

The claim: the temple withholds explanation on purpose, and being confused is not a sign that something went wrong.

Jesus was asked by his own disciples why he taught in parables instead of plainly. He explained why he would not stop.
Almost nobody in the ancient world could read, so the most important things were taught through symbols.
But that is not why we still use them. An explanation gives you one meaning that lasts forever, and then you are finished with it. A symbol keeps giving you something new as you change. Think about what the American flag means to you, and whether it means the same thing to everyone, or the same thing it meant in 1945.
President McKay once told a room of stake presidents that his niece was disappointed in the temple, that he had been disappointed in the temple, and that so had they.
The temple keeps changing because it exists for us, and we change. The things that never change are the things worth paying attention to.

Section 2 — The Temple Is Work

The claim: the temple is where God lives, and the work is not the price of admission. The work is where you meet Him.

Getting to a temple has always been hard. A mountain in a desert. A tent carried for forty years. Seven years for Solomon. Forty years for the Salt Lake Temple.
When the Provo Temple was built by contractors and the Saints were kept off the site, the ones who remembered building earlier temples felt cheated. They were not being spared a burden. They were being locked out of the best part.
Learning through symbols is hard the way a good literature class is hard. Nobody hands you the answer. That is the assignment.
One practical thing: do not try to catch all of it. Catch one thing. One image, one phrase, one moment that snags on something happening in your life right now. Take that home.
Of the sixteen times our scriptures use “ask and ye shall receive,” “seek and ye shall find,” or “knock and it shall be opened,” half of the times all three appear together, it happens at the temple. If you were looking for someone, the first place you would look is where they live.

Section 3 — The Temple Gets You Ready

The claim: you do not get ready and then go to the temple. You go to the temple in order to be made ready.

Ancient priests followed a sequence to approach God — found worthy, washed, anointed, clothed, given a new name, hands filled, then offerings and covenants. You can read Israel’s version in Exodus 28–29 and Leviticus 8, and you will recognize it.
Worthy does not mean finished. Nobody arrives good enough. It means you are honest about where you stand, you want to do good, and you want God’s help to change.
The world outside the temple is called profane, and that does not mean wicked. The Latin pro fanum means, literally, outside the temple.
The washing and anointing prepare us to become kings and queens — and almost every coronation in history includes a washing and an anointing. But in the gospel those titles mean the reverse of rank. The king is the servant of everyone.
Women are washed and anointed by women. For many members this is the first time they have watched a woman officiate in an ordinance, and it is a moment when the power of the priesthood is visible in an ordained priestess.
The oil is olive oil. Gethsemane means the olive press. Christ means Anointed One.
The first garment in scripture was made by God, out of skins, which means something died for it.

Section 4 — The Temple Endowment Is a Drama

The claim: the endowment is a five-act drama, not a historical account, and reading it as a drama changes everything.

The word endowment means a gift, but the older sense of the word is clothing. The Hebrew behind atonement carries the sense of covering. Something is put on you. Something covers you.

Act I — Origins

The premortal council, the creation, and two people placed in a garden. Creation accounts were how ancient cultures told people what a life was for, and they told them in temples. Whether the earth was made in six days or six billion years is beside the point. Genesis 1 is describing what things are for. The earth is a house God built and moved into, and He put us in it with work to do.

Act II — The Conflict in the Garden

The story stops making sense on purpose. Two commandments that cannot both be kept. Lucifer walking around inside a temple. God asking where Adam is. Consequences that are wildly out of proportion. These are not problems with the story. They are the story telling you it is a drama.

Two lessons. When Adam and Eve made a mistake, they hid, and then they blamed each other. Watch what happens when adult-sized mistakes follow that same pattern. And in the entire sequence, neither of them ever asks for help — even though God was a word away.

Act III — Covenants

In ancient drama, this is when messengers arrive with the wisdom the hero could not find alone. Five covenants: obedience, sacrifice, the gospel, chastity, consecration. They are not five more rules. They are benchmarks to hold your choices against.

Look at how the room is arranged — women on one side, men on the other, both facing the altar. That is a wedding. Christ is the bridegroom, and we are the bride. These covenants bind us to Him and Him to us.

Lucifer says that if we do not live our covenants, we are in his power. He is telling the truth, and we will be in his power if and only if we believe his lie.

Act IV — Living the Covenants

Names, tokens, and signs were how the ancient world proved identity and right — and we still use signatures, passwords, keys, and rings for the same reason. Watch how they progress. Growth has stages, and you cannot skip one.

Nobody becomes a golfer in one trip to the range. You progress, and you regress, and eventually you love it — not because you mastered it, but because you grew to love the engagement. The temple asks the same thing.

Then the prayer circle, where strangers pray for strangers by name. We cannot make it through this life without each other, and even if we could, it would not be worth it.

Act V — Reunion

The veil was torn when Christ was crucified, which tells us what it represents. The cherubim who guard the way back are not there to keep us out — look at the temple workers who come to help you through. They are there to help you get in.

And then the celestial room, which is a refuge. Psalm 46 describes a world where the mountains are falling into the sea, and a still place in the middle of it: the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

Be still, and know that I am God.

Five Things to Remember

The temple is supposed to feel different. Confusion is not failure.
Do not try to catch all of it. Catch one thing.
Worthy means committed to change, not finished.
It is a drama, not a history. The parts that do not make sense are the parts asking you to think.
There is a place you can go where the shaking does not reach.

The full post goes through all of this slowly, with the history and the sources and a lot more of my own thinking. Read it a section at a time if that is easier. I hope it helps.

[Link to the full post]

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Podcasts

Faith Matters Podcast: Encouraging faithful inquiry amid complexity.
Comeback Podcast: Sharing Stories of those who left the church and came back.
Unshaken with Jared Halverson: In-depth historical and doctrinal studies for those wrestling with tough questions.
Leading Saints: Insights into modern leadership and discipleship, often addressing nuanced challenges.

Books

Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days (Vols. 1–2): Thorough Church history, incorporating modern research.
Planted by Patrick Q. Mason: A compassionate approach to faith challenges.
The Crucible of Doubt by Terryl and Fiona Givens: Thoughtful exploration of faith reconstruction.
Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Lyman Bushman: A deeply researched biography reflecting Joseph’s certainty and complexity.
Making Sense of the Doctrine and Covenants by Steven C. Harper: A summary of the history and context for each section of the Doctrine and Covenants.

Blogs and Articles

Gospel Essays: Accessible discussions suited for individual and group study.
Faith Matters: Engages contemporary faith topics with candor.