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January 21, 1836

As the completion and dedication of the house of the Lord drew near, Joseph Smith prepared the Saints in Kirtland to receive what the Lord had previously promised would be an endowment of power “from on high” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:32, 38; 43:16; 105:11). On the afternoon of January 21, 1836, the Prophet assembled the leadership of the Church in the printing office and “attended to the ordinance of washing [their] bodies in pure water.” They also “perfumed [their] bodies and [their] heads” and invoked the name of the Lord. That evening, the leadership assembled on the third floor of the temple to administer “the ordinance of anointing [their] heads with holy oil.” Priesthood blessings were then administered by the laying on of hands, and Joseph’s father, the patriarch Joseph Sr., anointed and blessed his son and sealed upon him “the blessings of Moses to lead Israel in the latter days.”[1]

This was the setting in which the Prophet received the vision that is now canonized as section 137 of the Doctrine and Covenants—a grand vision of the celestial kingdom. This vision builds upon and expands the earlier vision of the degrees of glory that Joseph and Sidney Rigdon had received years previous (Doctrine and Covenants 76). “The heavens were opened upon us,” Joseph recorded, “and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether in the body or out I cannot tell” (Doctrine and Covenants 137:1).[2] In this vision, Joseph beheld the resplendent beauty and glory of God’s heavenly kingdom and marveled at seeing in that kingdom his beloved brother Alvin, who had died before the establishment of the restored Church of Jesus Christ on April 6, 1830.[3] The voice of God came to Joseph explaining that all those who die without a knowledge of the gospel but who would have otherwise received it had they lived long enough, as well as those who die before they reach the age of accountability, “are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven” (Doctrine and Covenants 137:10).[4]

As canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants, this vision in the Kirtland Temple concludes with Joseph hearing the voice of God declare the salvation of children who die before they are accountable for their sins. In his journal, however, the Prophet recorded additional manifestations that he and others witnessed during this extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit. He saw the Twelve Apostles ministering to the inhabitants of the earth, specifically mentioning apostles William E. McLellin and Brigham Young performing miracles and being protected by God’s power. He also witnessed the redemption of Zion, as well as “many things which the tongue of man cannot describe in full.” Joseph was not alone in this visionary experience. His scribe Warren Parrish “saw in a vision the armies of heaven protecting the Saints in their return to Zion.” Newel K. Whitney and his counselors in the Kirtland bishopric beheld “the glories of heaven.” Some saw the Savior, while others “were ministered unto by holy angels.”[5]

Because of its visionary nature, it is difficult to precisely determine how much of this manifestation—both its canonized and uncanonized portions—describes something purely symbolic, something that would come to pass no matter what, or something that should come to pass only if the conditions were right. Joseph, for instance, saw both his parents in the celestial kingdom before either had died (Doctrine and Covenants 137:5); so likewise, he saw “the Twelve in the Celestial Kingdom of God” before their mortal demise. Was this a divine assurance of what would invariably transpire, or rather a glimpse into just one potential outcome depending on the faithfulness of those mentioned in the revelation—an encouragement for them to stay their course lest they should lose their otherwise assured salvation?

The Prophet also saw William McLellin preaching as an apostle in his native home in the southern United States. William, however, would apostatize a short two years later. Had he remained faithful, would William have fulfilled what Joseph saw that day in the temple? So too with Brigham Young. Had he not assumed the burden of the prophetic mantle, the migration of the Church, and the colonization of the West, would Brigham have filled his mission to a “strange land” in the “far southwest” where he preached with God’s protection? Or were these manifestations celestial symbols of some deeper truth about these men, their responsibilities as apostles, and their eternal progression? For now, we may never know the answer. But this uncertainty negates neither the reality nor the power of this glorious manifestation that the Prophet received on January 21, 1836. It merely suggests the contingent, conditional nature of some of Joseph’s visionary episodes and prophetic pronouncements, as with his pronouncement on April 11, 1838, that apostle David W. Patten should “perform a mission” that next spring (Doctrine and Covenants 114:1),[6] only for him to perish later that year during a violent skirmish with the Missouri state militia.[7]

❋ ❋ ❋

I saw the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb who are now upon the earth, who hold the keys of this last ministry, in foreign lands, standing together in a circle, much fatigued; with their clothes tattered and feet swollen; with their eyes cast downward, and Jesus standing in their midst, and they did not behold him. The Savior looked upon them and wept.

I also beheld Elder William E. McLellin in the south, standing upon a hill surrounded with a vast multitude, preaching to them, and a lame man standing before him, supported by his crutches. He threw them down at his word, and leaped as a hart by the mighty power of God

Also, Elder Brigham Young was standing in a strange land, in the far southwest, in a desert place, upon a rock in the midst of about a dozen men of color, who appeared hostile. He was preaching to them in their own tongue. And the angel of God was standing above his head with a drawn sword in his hand protecting him—but he did not see it.

And I finally saw the Twelve in the Celestial Kingdom of God.

I also beheld the redemption of Zion, and many things which the tongue of man cannot describe in full.

Notes

[1] JSP, J1:166–67.

[2] Compare JSP, J1:167.

[3] Alvin died on November 19, 1823, just months after Moroni’s first visitation to the Prophet. By their mother’s account, Alvin was quick to believe his younger brother’s claims to being visited by the angel, admonishing Joseph on his deathbed to “obtain the record,” meaning the Book of Mormon plates, and to “be faithful in receiving instruction, and in keeping every commandment that is given [to] you.” (See Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, 91, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1845/98.) It can be safely assumed that “had [he] been permitted to tarry” (Doctrine and Covenants 137:7), Alvin would have received the gospel with the rest of his family.

[4] JSP, J1:168.

[5] JSP, J1:168–69.

[6] JSP, D6:81–83.

[7] Patten was mortally wounded at the Battle of Crooked River, where on October 25, 1838, a company of Latter-day Saints exchanged fire with Missouri militiamen. On this battle and its significance as part of the larger Mormon-Missouri War of 1838, consult Alexander L. Baugh, A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri (Provo, UT: BYU Studies, 2000); “Joseph Smith in Northern Missouri,” in Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer, ed. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Kent P. Jackson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 291–346.