The dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple is one of only two temple dedicatory prayers in the current scriptural canon. The other is the dedicatory prayer for the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 8:23–61). The dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland temple mirrors the opening of the dedicatory prayer for Solomon’s temple, which reads, “Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart” (1 Kings 8:23).

After this opening, the prayer for the Kirtland temple acknowledges the poverty and tribulation of the Saints in Kirtland, who had sacrificed to build the temple. When the Lord commanded the Saints to build the Kirtland temple in 1832 (D&C 88:119), there were only around 150 Saints living in the area, and of those Saints, only ten Church members owned enough property to be taxed by the city.¹ Only a few members of the community had any experience in construction, and none possessed the knowledge necessary to construct a temple according to the specifications given by revelation. Brigham Young later remembered that the Saints were “too few in numbers, too weak in faith, and too poor in purse, to attempt such a mighty enterprise.” But he also recalled “the great Prophet Joseph, in the stone quarry, quarrying rock with his own hands; and the few then in the Church, following his example of obedience and diligence wherever most needed; with laborers on the walls, holding the sword in one hand to protect themselves from the mob, while they placed the stone and moved the trowel with the other.”²

When the temple was finally completed, the cost of its construction was estimated to be between $40,000 to $60,000, a tremendous sum at the time.³ One historian observed that given the meager resources of the time, it was probably the most expensive temple ever built by the Church.⁴

1. Milton V. Backman, The Heavens Resound, 1983, 140–42.

2. Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 2:31.

3. Backman, 160.

4. Karl Ricks Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland, 1996, 155.

If Church members toured the Kirtland temple today, they might be surprised to find that it did not have any baptismal fonts, endowment rooms, or sealing rooms, as are found in Latter-day Saint temples today. The Kirtland Temple was used for a number of different purposes, as explained in verses 6–21 of the dedicatory prayer. In many ways it was a chapel, school, temple, and Church office building, all rolled into one. The temple was used as a multipurpose facility and, in contrast to modern temples, it was open to all people. The first floor of the temple was commonly called the House of Worship, though worship services, including the sacrament ordinance, were held in all spaces of the temple. The second floor of the temple, called the House of Learning, was used primarily for educational purposes. Both the first and second floors had raised stands with four levels of elevated pews dedicated to the offices of the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthood.

An early form of the endowment was practiced in the Kirtland Temple. The ordinances that make up the endowment were performed by invitation and took place on the third floor of the temple, which consisted of a series of offices used by Church leaders. The Kirtland endowment was only given to priesthood holders. However, later the ordinances of the endowment were expanded and given to both men and women in Nauvoo. Many elders left records of receiving this early endowment in the Kirtland temple. Artemus Millet wrote, “I was then ordained an Elder, and got my Endowments in the Kirtland Temple and in 1836 went on a mission.”⁵ George A. Smith, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, wrote, “I passed through the ordinances of endowments and received much instruction and many manifestations of the spirit.”⁶

The year before the temple was completed, Joseph Smith counseled the elders of the Church to “tarry at Kirtland until you are endowed with power from on high. You need a fountain of wisdom, knowledge, and intelligence such as you never had. Relative to the endowment, I make a remark or two, that there be no mistake. The world cannot receive the things of God. He can endow you without worldly pomp or great parade. He can give you that wisdom, that intelligence and that power which characterized the ancient Saints.”⁷ 

5. Quoted in Karl Ricks Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland, 1996, 187.

6. Quoted in Karl Ricks Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland, 1996, 187.

7. Minutes and Blessings, 21 February 1835, p. 162, JSP.

In this section of the prayer (D&C 109:22–33), the Prophet pleads that angels will protect the Saints against their persecutors. The construction of the temple took place in the midst of serious concerns over the physical safety of the leaders of the Church. Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were badly beaten by a mob in March 1832, and during the construction of the temple, the Saints constantly feared that mob violence would reoccur. The Prophet was not the only one who prayed for safety from the enemies of the Church. Oliver Huntington, one of Joseph Smith’s bodyguards, remembered how the prayer of one child deeply affected the Prophet:

At a time when Joseph Smith was guarded day and night by his brethren from mob violence . . . he was in a log house at night. Several brethren were with him and were making arrangements as to who should stand guard that night. Joseph was listening to the prayer of a little boy in the room adjoining. The boy prayed for the Prophet, that he might be secure and safe from his enemies, the mob, that night. When the boy had done [sic] praying, Joseph turned to his brethren and told them all to go to bed and all sleep and rest themselves that night, for God had heard and would answer that boy’s prayer. They all went to bed and slept safely until morning undisturbed.⁸

In addition to answered prayers, the Saints also received help from angelic ministers. In his history, Joseph Smith recorded that “Elder Roger Orton saw a mighty Angel riding upon a horse of fire with a flaming sword in his hand, followed by five others, encircle the house and protect the Saints, even the Lord’s anointed from the power of Satan, and a host of evil Spirits, which were striving to disturb the Saints.”⁹ 

The Prophet and the temple were also protected by mortal defenders. Heber C. Kimball remembered, “We were persecuted and were under the necessity of laying upon the floor with our firelocks by our sides to sustain ourselves, as there were mobs gathering all around to destroy us and prevent us from building the temple. And when they were driven, every man that was in the church, arose, and we took our firelocks, to reinstate our brethren, and in the night we laid upon the floor; we laid upon Brother Joseph’s floor, and upon Sidney Rigdon’s floor, so as to be ready to keep our enemies at bay.”¹⁰

8. Quoted in Karl Ricks Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland, 1996, 165.

9. JS History, vol. B-1, p. 699, JSP.

10. Quoted in Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland, 166.

The dedicatory prayer asks for a Pentecostal outpouring upon the Saints (D&C 109:36). This request was fulfilled, and the Saints received a spiritual outpouring never before or since seen in the history of the Church. Joseph Smith recorded in his journal, “The Savior made his appearance to some, while angels ministered unto others, and it was a pentecost and endowment indeed, long to be remembered[,] for the sound shall go forth from this place into all the world, and the occurrences of this day shall be handed down upon the pages of sacred history to all generations, as the day of Pentecost, so shall this day be numbered and celebrated as a year of Jubilee and time of rejoicing to the saints of the most high God.”¹¹

The outpouring of the Spirit during the dedicatory season of the Kirtland Temple extended to all ages and both genders among the Saints. Benjamin Brown and Eliza R. Snow both remembered a woman who attended the dedicatory services while holding her two-month-old child. This young mother was unable to find anyone to look after the baby while she attended the service. She pleaded with Joseph Smith Sr. to allow her to attend even though young children were not allowed in the meeting. Father Smith spoke to the doorkeepers, telling them, “Brethren we do not exercise faith[;] my faith is this child will not cry a word in the House today.” Benjamin Brown then observed, “On this the woman & child entered and the child did not cry a word from 8 till 4 in the afternoon. But when the Saints all shouted Hosanna the child was nursing but let go and shouted also. When the saints paused, it paused. When they shouted, it shouted, for three times when they shouted amen, it shouted also for three times then it resumed its nursing without any alarm.”¹²

In another description of a meeting held in the temple, Oliver Cowdery wrote, “The spirit was poured out—I saw the glory of God, like a great cloud, come down and rest upon the house, and fill the same like a mighty rushing wind. I also saw cloven tongues, like as of fire[,] rest upon many, (for there were 316 present,) while they spake with other tongues and prophesied.”¹³ Levi Jackman compared the events of the dedication to the New Testament Pentecost, writing, “I believe that as [many] great things were heard and felt and seen as there was on the day of Pentecost with the apostles.”¹⁴ Spiritual manifestations also occurred on the exterior of the temple. Benjamin Brown, writing to his wife Sarah, recorded that on the evening of the dedication, “one saw a pillar or cloud rest down upon the house [as] bright as when the sun shines on a cloud like as gold.”¹⁵

11. JS Journal, pp. 189–90, JSP.

12. “Historical Introduction,” Minutes and Prayer of Dedication, 27 March 1836 [D&C 109], fn. 9, JSP.

13. “Historical Introduction,” Minutes and Prayer of Dedication, 27 March 1836 [D&C 109], fn. 13, JSP.

14. “Historical Introduction,” Minutes and Prayer of Dedication, 27 March 1836 [D&C 109], fn. 14, JSP.

15. “Historical Introduction,” Minutes and Prayer of Dedication, 27 March 1836 [D&C 109], fn. 15, JSP.

Joseph Smith and the other leaders of the Church were painfully aware that the first command for a temple to be built in this dispensation was given to the Saints in Missouri, not the Saints in Kirtland (D&C 57:1–3; 84:1–5). Intense persecution had driven the Saints in Missouri away from the chosen ground for their temple, and this section of the prayer (D&C 109:47–53) recognizes the suffering of the Saints in that region. Construction on the temple in Kirtland was delayed while Joseph Smith traveled with Zion’s Camp to assist the Saints in Missouri (see D&C 103). Many of the Saints who had suffered from the persecutions in Missouri in turn traveled to Kirtland to participate in the dedication and receive their blessings in the temple. David Whitmer, the president of the stake of the Church in Missouri, was anointed and blessed in the Kirtland Temple.¹⁶

In the dedicatory prayer the Prophet prayed for the Saints in Missouri to be redeemed and restored to the place designated for the city of Zion (D&C 109:49–51). But the prayer also looks toward the establishment of stakes of Zion throughout the world (D&C 109:39, 59). The redemption of Zion will come in due time. In the meantime, the Saints throughout the world are counseled to gather to the stakes among them.

16. Backman, The Heavens Resound, 1983, 289.

The dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland temple also includes a plea for the Lord to bless the leaders of nations and those who are not members of the Church. The prayer is remarkable in that it takes into account those who persecuted the Saints. The Prophet pleaded that “their hearts might be softened” and that “their prejudices may give way before the truth” (D&C 109:56).

Joseph Smith had a fervent desire for others to tolerate the religion of the Saints and for the Saints to tolerate their neighbors of different faiths. In a meeting of the Council of Fifty held several years after the dedication of the Kirtland temple, Joseph Smith spoke at length on the importance of cooperation and tolerance among different religions, stating, “God cannot save or damn a man only on the principle that every man acts, chooses, and worships for himself.” The Prophet continued, “Hence the importance of thrusting from us every spirit of bigotry and intolerance towards a man’s religious sentiments, that spirit which has drenched the earth with blood—When a man feels the least temptation to such intolerance he ought to spurn it from him.”¹⁷

17. Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846; Volume 1, 10 March 1844–1 March 1845, p. 118, JSP.

The prayer emphasizes the need to gather Israel, particularly the children of Judah, to their homelands (D&C 109:59–67). While members of the Church are Israelites, either by lineage or adoption (the Lord makes no distinction), the prayer also points out that most members of the Church “are identified with the Gentiles” (D&C 109:60). This wording distinguishes between Jew and Gentile in the same way the Book of Mormon does on its title page—a Jew is a Jewish national, while a Gentile is a person from a Gentile nation.¹⁸ Our joint Israelite and Gentile heritage is an important part of our identity as members of the Church. Every member of the Church can celebrate and find joy in the culture they were born into and the culture they inherit as part of the house of Israel.

Joseph Fielding Smith declared:

Let us also remember that we are of the Gentiles! By this I mean that the Latter-day Saints have come to their blessings through the Gentile nations. President Brigham Young . . . said that Joseph Smith was a pure Ephraimite. This is true; yet Joseph Smith came also of Gentile lineage. So do most all members of the Church. We may boast of our lineage, and rejoice in the fact that patriarchs have declared us to be of Ephraim, but at the same time let us not despise the Gentiles, for we are also of them. If it were not so the scriptures would not be fulfilled.¹⁹

18. Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig J. Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration, 2000, 879.

19. Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, 1949, 140.

The dedication of the Kirtland Temple featured a number of firsts, including the first time the Hosanna Shout was performed in this dispensation. The word Hosanna is Hebrew for “save, we pray.”²⁰ Hosanna appears several times in the King James Version of the Bible (Matthew 21:9; Mark 11:9–11; John 12:13). It also appears in the Book of Mormon, shouted by none other than the Holy Spirit. Nephi witnessed that “the Spirit cried with a loud voice, saying: Hosanna to the Lord, the most high God” (1 Nephi 11:6). The Nephites later shouted “Hosanna” after they were delivered from their enemies (3 Nephi 4:32).

After the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, shouting “Hosanna” was incorporated into the early form of the endowment practiced in the temple. In a meeting held in the temple on January 22, Edward Partridge recorded, “Prest. J[oseph] S[mith] Jun., request[ed] Prest. Sidney Rigdon to ask the Lord to accept the performances of the evening, and instructed us, when he was done[,] to shout Hosannah, Blessed be the name of the Most High God.” Bishop Partridge continued, “These things were performed; the shout and speaking in unknown tongues lasted 10 or 15 minutes. During the evening, more especially at the time of the shouting, a number saw visions as they disclosed unto us.”²¹

Since it was first utilized at the Kirtland Temple, the Hosanna Shout has become a cherished tradition among Latter-day Saints at every temple dedication. It has also been used for other special occasions, such as the dedication of the Conference Center in 2000, and in recognition of the two hundredth anniversary of the First Vision in the April 2020 General Conference. It is typically paired with a performance of the “The Spirit of God” by W. W. Phelps, who wrote the hymn specifically for the dedication of the Kirtland Temple. When “The Spirit of God” was performed at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, it carried an extra verse, not sung today, that connected the Kirtland endowment with the purposes of the temple. The additional verse reads:

We’ll wash, and be wash’d, and with oil be anointed

Withal not omitting the washing of feet:

For he that receiveth his penny appointed,

Must surely be clean at the harvest of wheat.²²

20. “Hosanna,” Lexham Bible Dictionary. 

21. Quoted in Jacob W. Olmstead, “From Pentecost to Administration: A Reappraisal of the History of the Hosanna Shout,” Mormon Historical Studies, vol. 2, no. 2 (2000), 14.

22. Collection of Sacred Hymns, 1835, p. 121, JSP.