Joseph Smith had promised the Saints further instructions on the subject of baptisms for the dead (D&C 127:10). In verses 1–5, he expounds on the scriptural background of the practice. Joseph commonly shared how the practice of proxy ordinances for the dead is an essential part of the plan of God “prepared before the foundation of the world” (D&C 128:5). In an article published in Times and Seasons on April 15, 1842, Joseph Smith taught:

The great Jehovah contemplated the whole of the events connected with the earth, pertaining to the plan of salvation, before it rolled into existence, or ever the “morning stars sung together for joy,” the past, the present and the future, were, and are with him one eternal now . . . he comprehended the fall of man, and their redemption; he knew the plan of salvation, and pointed it out; he was acquainted with the situation of all nations; and with their destiny; he ordered all things according to the council of his own will, he knows the situation of both the living, and the dead, and has made ample provision for their redemption, according to their several circumstances, and the laws of the kingdom of God, whether in this world, or in the world to come.”¹

1. Times and Seasons, 15 April 1842, p. 760, JSP, emphasis in original.

Joseph Smith taught of “a power which records or binds on earth and binds in heaven” (D&C 128:9). This power, commonly referred to in the Church today as the sealing power, is not exclusive to this dispensation. It has been exercised by prophets in all dispensations whenever the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood have been present on the earth. The word seal appears many times in the scriptures. Jesus Christ was “sealed” by God the Father (John 6:27). Paul taught the Saints of his day that God had anointed and sealed them (2 Corinthians 1:21–22). When Paul wrote to the Saints in Ephesus, he spoke of them being “sealed by that holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13). In the book of Revelation, John spoke of God’s servants being sealed “in their foreheads” (Revelation 7:3). The power to seal was promised to the Apostle Peter when the Savior told him, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).

The sealing power essentially gives the Lord’s servants who hold it power to perform certain acts on earth that are validated (sealed) in heaven. The sealing keys were given to Joseph Smith by the ancient Prophet Elijah when he appeared in the Kirtland Temple (D&C 110:13–16). Today the President of the Church holds and directs the use of sealing keys. When new members of the Quorum of the Twelve are called, they are given the sealing keys (though the Twelve act under the direction of the President of the Church in using those keys). The sealing power is also given to a select number of officiators who serve in temples and perform sealing ordinances. The sealing authority is the power by which “all covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations” receive “efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead” (D&C 132:7).²

2. Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1992, “Sealing Power,” 1288.

In Doctrine and Covenants 128:10–14, Joseph Smith uses the term summum bonum when he describes how to obtain the knowledge of salvation. Summum bonum is a Latin term meaning “the highest good, especially as the ultimate goal according to which values and priorities are established in an ethical system.”³ Joseph explains that the summum bonum pertaining to the question of salvation for all men and women is the power of the priesthood. It is through the priesthood that God gives His followers the necessary knowledge they need to provide ordinances that open the door to deliverance for both the living and the dead.

The imagery of death is already present in the ordinance of baptism by immersion. Paul taught that those who “were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into death” and “that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in a newness of life” (Romans 6:3–6). Furthering this imagery, Joseph teaches that baptismal fonts in temples are “a similitude of the grave” and should be put “in a place underneath where the living are wont to assemble” (D&C 128:13). In most temples built by the Church, baptismal fonts are customarily placed in the lower part of temples. Even in one-story temples, fonts are typically found in a step-down area.⁴ If a temple is built in conditions in which a font cannot be placed underground, the font is placed beneath the chapel and other rooms where the living meet.⁵

3. “Summum Bonum,” Oxford Languages, accessed June 24, 2021.

4. Richard O. Cowan, “Instructions on Baptism for the Dead,” in Studies in Scripture: The Doctrine and Covenants, 1985, 493.

5. Stephen E. Robinson and H. Dean Garrett, A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, 2005, 4:211.

Joseph quotes two teachings from the New Testament concerning work for the dead. Paul explicitly mentions baptisms for the dead in 1 Corinthians 15:29 in a discussion about the resurrection, though he offers no commentary or instructions on the practice. In Hebrews 11, Paul lists ancient prophets who demonstrated faith in God and then states “that they without us should not be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:40). By quoting these two scriptures in verses 15 and 16, Joseph ties the fate of the deceased and the fate of the living together—the dead gain salvation through proxy ordinances, and the living gain salvation by laboring to carry out these ordinances. The temple is the connection between the salvation of the living and the dead.

President Rudger Clawson explained, “We have two great churches, one in heaven, the other upon the earth. They are moving along parallel lines, and the temple of God, as it appears to me, is the connecting link that connects the heavens and the earth, because it is through the temple that we will be able to reach our dead, and not otherwise. To pray for the dead may not be of any real assistance to them. To actually help them we must do a work for them.”⁶

In a similar fashion, Elder David A. Bednar taught, “The temple is the great point of intersection between heaven and earth. In this sacred place, holy work will be performed through selfless service and love. The temple reminds me of all that is good and beautiful in the world.”⁷

6. Rudger Clawson, in Conference Report, April 1933, 77–78.

7. David A. Bednar, in Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Quotes, accessed June 25, 2021, https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/library/quotes/.

The prophecy at the end of the book of Malachi is among the most haunting in all of scripture. Malachi 4:5–6 is quoted in Doctrine and Covenants 128:17 precisely as it appears in the King James Version of the Bible. When the Savior quotes the same verses to the Nephites (3 Nephi 25), His words were also translated in the Book of Mormon to match the King James Version. When Joseph Smith reached Malachi during his project of translating the Bible, he made no changes to the entire book of Malachi and instead simply wrote in the manuscript, “Malachi Correct.”⁸

When Joseph says that he “might have rendered a plainer translation” to Malachi 4:5–6 (D&C 128:18), it is very likely that he is referring to Moroni’s rendering of the verses, found in Doctrine and Covenants 2. During his appearance to Joseph in 1823, Moroni quoted the passage in Malachi but made several key changes. For instance, Moroni explains that Elijah’s coming held a purpose, which, specifically, was to reveal the priesthood (D&C 2:1). Moroni also altered the text of the passage so that it declares that Elijah “will plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers” (D&C 2:2). Moroni softened the phrase “lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” and instead said, “if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming” (D&C 2:3). Joseph first published Moroni’s commentary on this revelation in the April 1842 edition of Times and Seasons a few months before Doctrine and Covenants 128 was written.⁹

In a sermon given on January 21, 1844, Joseph again quoted Malachi 4:5–6 and then offered this commentary:

The word turn here (Malachi 4:6) should be translated bind or seal. But what is the object of this important mission or how is it to be fulfilled? The keys are to be delivered[,] the spirit of Elijah is to come, The gospel to be established[,] the Saints of God gathered[,] Zion built up, & the Saints to come up as saviors on mount Zion[;] but how are they to become Saviors on Mount Zion[?] by building their temples[,] erecting their baptismal fonts[,] and going forth and receiving all the ordinances, baptisms, confirmations, washings[,] anointings[,] ordinations, and sealing powers upon our heads in behalf of all our progenitors who are dead and redeem them that they may come forth in the first resurrection and be exalted to thrones of glory with us. And herein is the chain that binds the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the Fathers, which fulfills the mission of Elijah[;] and I would to God that this temple was now done that we might go into it.¹⁰

8. Old Testament Revision 2, p. 119, JSP.

9. “History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 15 April 1842, 3:753, JSP.

10. Discourse, 21 January 1844, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff, pp. 181–82, JSP, emphasis in original.

Doctrine and Covenants 128:19–21 briefly recounts some of the key events of the early Restoration. Some of these events are well known and extensively documented in the writings of Joseph Smith and his contemporaries, such as the appearance of Moroni or the voice of the Lord to the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. Other events mentioned in these verses are less well-known or are completely undocumented outside of this passage. For instance, Joseph’s statement about the “voice of Peter, James, and John in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna County, and Colesville, Broome county, on the Susquehanna river” (D&C 128:20) is the most detailed statement we have about the location and circumstances of the appearance of these three New Testament Apostles.

In an addition to an 1830 revelation (D&C 27) that was first included in the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord clarifies that Peter, James, and John brought “the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for a fulness of times, in the which I will gather together in one all things both which are in heaven, and what are in earth, and also all those whom my father hath given me out of the world” (D&C 27:12–14). A 2020 proclamation by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles declares, “Three of the original twelve Apostles—Peter, James, and John—restored the apostleship and keys of priesthood authority.”¹¹

Another incident—entirely unknown outside of this passage—is Joseph’s mention of “the voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light!” (D&C 128:20). This incident must have taken place early in the Restoration since Joseph and Emma Smith left their home there in September 1830 and never returned. Michael is identified in the scriptures as “the archangel who contended with the devil” (Jude 1:9; see also Revelation 12:7). Doctrine and Covenants 27:11 directly identifies Michael as Adam. Doctrine and Covenants 29:11 describes Michael as “the Lord’s archangel,” who will signal the great resurrection of the dead when he sounds his trump.

In section 128, Joseph recorded that Michael detected the devil’s attempt to appear as an “angel of light” (D&C 128:20). In an 1839 discourse given to the Twelve, Joseph spoke about how to detect Satan, stating, “As there are many keys to the kingdom of God[,] the following one will detect Satan when he transforms himself nigh unto an angel of light.”¹² Similar instructions were given by Joseph in a discourse recorded on February 9, 1843, which was later included as section 12 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

11. “The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicentennial Proclamation to the World,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org

12. Discourse, 27 June 1839, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff–A, p. 19, JSP. See also Discourse, 27 June 1839, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff–B, p. 85, JSP; and Discourse, 27 June 1839, as Reported by Willard Richards, p. 9, JSP.

In his 1838 history, Joseph Smith gave a more detailed account of the event described in Doctrine and Covenants 128:21 as “the voice of God in the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca county.” The account reads as follows:

We now became anxious to have that promise realized to us, which the Angel that conferred upon us the Aaronic Priesthood had given us, viz: that provided we continued faithful; we should also have the Melchizedek Priesthood, which holds the authority of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. We had for some time made this matter a subject of humble prayer, and at length we got together in the Chamber of Mr. Whitmer’s house in order more particularly to seek of the Lord what we now so earnestly desired: and here to our unspeakable satisfaction did we realize the truth of the Savior’s promise; “Ask, and you shall receive, seek, and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you;” for we had not long been engaged in solemn and fervent prayer, when the word of the Lord, came unto us in the chamber, commanding us; that I should ordain Oliver Cowdery to be an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ, and that he also should ordain me to the same office, and then to ordain others as it should be made known unto us, from time to time: we were however commanded to defer this our ordination until, such times, as it should be practicable to have our brethren, who had been and who should be baptized, assembled together, when we must have their sanction to our thus proceeding to ordain each other, and have them decide by vote whether they were willing to accept us as spiritual teachers, or not, when also we were commanded to bless bread and break it with them, and to take wine, bless it, and drink it with them, afterward proceed to ordain each other according to commandment, then call out such men as the Spirit should dictate, and ordain them, and then attend to the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, upon all those whom we had previously baptized; doing all things in the name of the Lord.¹³

The account also mentions the voices of several other angels, including Michael (Adam, see D&C 27:11) and Gabriel, whom Joseph Smith identified as the ancient prophet Noah. Joseph later taught that “he [Gabriel-Noah] stands next in authority to Adam in the priesthood.”¹⁴

The account also mentions Raphael, an angel not mentioned anywhere else in the current canon of scripture, though he is a prominent figure in the book of Tobit, found in the Apocrypha (Tobit 3:17; 5:4). The name Raphael means “God heals.” In the book of Tobit, Raphael first appears as a human. When he reveals himself as an angel, he says that he is “one of seven angels who stand ready and enter before the glory of the Lord” (Tobit 12:15). The book of Tobit is part of the apocryphal books, about which the Lord declared “there are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly” but also warned that “there are many things contained therein that are not true, which are interpolations by the hand of men” (D&C 91:1–2). Outside of Doctrine and Covenants 128, Raphael is not mentioned in any other known statement of Joseph Smith. His mention here confirms that he is an important messenger for God, even though we know little about his mission or his mortal identity. The phrase “divers angels” (verse 21) implies there are other angelic messengers who assisted in the Restoration, whose labors will undoubtedly come to light at a later time.

13. JS History, Vol. A-1, pp. 25–26, JSP. See the historical context for Doctrine and Covenants 18.

14. Discourse, between circa 26 June and circa 4 August 1839–A, as Reported by William Clayton, p. 11, JSP.

Doctrine and Covenants 128:22–25 ends with a stirring call for the Latter-day Saints to make an offering unto the Lord through their efforts to perform and record work for the deceased. The offering of the Saints is compared to the offering of the sons of Levi described in an earlier revelation as “an acceptable offering and sacrifice in the house of the Lord” (D&C 84:31).

In an instruction on priesthood given on October 5, 1840, Joseph Smith mentioned the sons of Levi when he explained that animal sacrifice, as practiced in the Old Testament, would be temporarily reinstated as part of the restitution of all things in the latter days. The 1840 instruction declared, “These sacrifices as well as every ordinance belonging to the priesthood will[,] when the temple of the Lord shall be built and the sons of Levi be purified[,] be fully restored and attended to. All their powers[,] ramifications, and blessings—[that] ever did and will exist when the powers of the Melchizedek Priesthood are sufficiently manifest, else how can the restitution of all things spoken of by all the Holy prophets be brought to pass?”¹⁴ The same instruction clarified that this was only to be a temporary reinstatement of animal sacrifice, adding, “It is not to be understood that, the law of Moses will be established again with all its rights and variety of ceremonies. This has never been spoken off by the prophets. But those things which existed prior to Moses’ day viz., sacrifice, will be continued.”¹⁵

Those who hold the authority of the priesthood effectively act as the modern “sons of Levi” (see D&C 84:32–34) in creating another offering. Their offering is the record demonstrating that the ordinances of salvation have been performed for the living and the dead through the sealing power given in the last days.

14. Instruction on Priesthood, circa 5 October 1840, p. 10, JSP.

15. Instruction on Priesthood, circa 5 October 1840, p. 10, JSP.