Jewish Temple Symbolism and Imagery (and brother of Jared) and Sacrament

How the Symbolism of Judaism’s Holiest Day is Significant to Latter-day Saints By LDS Perspectives Podcast · September 18, 2018.

Shon Hopkin: One of the important things for modern Christians and Latter-day Saints to understand is that the tabernacle and then the temple were set up to imitate a return into the Garden of Eden. This is the idea that Adam and Eve and all humankind have been cast out of the Garden of Eden, out of the presence of God, out of the paradisiacal state and are living in this fallen world. God has even placed cherubim, these angelic guardians, to protect the presence of God. And the idea isn’t, “You can’t return into my presence.” The idea is rather, “You need to prepare appropriately before you return into my presence.” As the high priest proceeds from east to west towards the Holy of Holies, he is carefully, appropriately, boldly seeking to return, like Adam and Eve returning, representing all of the congregation of Israel, or we might say representing all of us if you’re taking a modern perspective, back into the presence of God. When you move past the veil, you’ve now passed those cherubim stitched on the vale. And they were actually stitched on the vale. They are guarding the way as if saying, “Do not enter in unless you are truly ready to come in.” This is high drama for ancient Israelites. We have someone representing all of us that is going to enter into the presence of God. That’s going back into the Garden of Eden.

Shon Hopkin: And again, I have to be careful here because symbols are multivalent. Right? This is just one way of understanding our ordinances and our symbols, but I think it’s a helpful Episode 94: Day of Atonement Symbolism in LDS Ritual with Shon Hopkin http://www.ldsperspectives.com/2018/09/19/day-atonement/ Page 11 of 15 way. I actually have to add one more Book of Mormon thing because I think it also helps as we talk now about Latter-day Saint ordinances and religious practice. The Brother of Jared is an interesting case study. This event is historically before the temple exists, but Mahonri uses this account and veil language as well to talk about his encounter with diety. After the Brother of Jared’s recounts his story of entering into the presence of God, he says, “As soon as you have enough faith you too can pierce the veil of unbelief and stand in the presence of God.” He understands what he’s doing with the story very clearly. And in that story, the Brother of Jared is also in a sense before a veil. He’s on a high mountain, so we would understand it as a temple kind of a setting, and he’s got a problem that he’s brought there before the Lord, and he’s asking the Lord to light these stones, and he prays this beautiful prayer. And if you think of him praying before the veil of the temple with this powerful prayer of faith, and all of a sudden, a hand pierces the veil. A hand peeks through the veil. God’s finger peeks through the veil, and the Brother of Jared looks at God’s finger and says, “Whoa. God has a finger. Therefore, God must have a body. God has a hand. Therefore, God must have a body. God’s willing to show me his hand. Therefore, maybe God will be willing to show me his whole body.” And that sparks his faith in such a way that with faith and boldness, he steps through the veil, so to speak, and enters into the presence of God and see’s God face-to-face. It’s not fair to call it Day of Atonement imagery because it happens before the Day of Atonement has ever been instituted, but to see this as an overarching theme both in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible, I think, is really important.

Shon Hopkin: And now I’ll talk about some Latter-day Saint ordinance practices. If we start with the sacrament, there are all kinds of symbolisms that can build on Day of Atonement imagery. The sacrament tablecloth covers the presence of God. It is covering those emblems that represent God’s presence. There are priests there. And if you think of the Day of Atonement now in Latter-day Saint practice, these priests are pronouncing the holy name of God, and the veil then is removed through sacred priesthood ordinance or ritual. You can tell it’s sacred because there is someone designated to guard the way and make sure it’s done appropriately. The bishop is up there. He’s the cherubim. The bishop is saying, “Whoa, whoa. This is important. This is a big deal. We are seeking to enter the presence of God. It’s got to be done correctly.” Right? If that priest gets the prayer wrong, there’s no magic in the order of those words it’s just we’ve got to do our best to do it the right way because we’re trying to enter into the presence of God. And so, we’ll say, “Oh, say the prayer again,” and the prayer is said again.” In this very sacred moment, the veil is pulled back and the presence of God, the community, the congregation, seeks to enter into the presence of God altogether and become one with the God that they worship. There is very beautiful and powerful symbolism there. Remember, I had mentioned that it’s high-risk, and in medieval legend, they’d even tie a rope to the leg. Well, you get that kind of language in the Book of Mormon. If you eat and drink unworthily you’re eating and drinking damnation to your soul. This is a big deal. Don’t just run Episode 94: Day of Atonement Symbolism in LDS Ritual with Shon Hopkin http://www.ldsperspectives.com/2018/09/19/day-atonement/ Page 12 of 15 past those cherubim. You prepare and then you humbly but boldly seek to enter into the presence of God. So that’s the sacrament. We could also talk about other ordinances as well.