The January 21, 1836, vision of the celestial kingdom was one of several visions given in Kirtland in which Joseph Smith or others saw the Father and the Son. The Father and the Son were also seen in vision at a June 1831 conference held on the Isaac Morley Farm, during the February 16, 1832, vision at the John Johnson Home (D&C 76), during a meeting held on March 18, 1833, in the Newel K. Whitney Store, and in other locations. Doctrine and Covenants 137 is unique in that, along with the Savior, Joseph also saw his own father and mother, his deceased brother Alvin, Father Adam, and Abraham. The presence of Joseph’s father and mother indicates that this was a vision of the future, since both of them were alive in 1836 and Joseph’s father was in the room with him when the vision was given.

Alvin Smith was Joseph’s oldest brother, who passed away on November 19, 1823. According to Lucy Mack Smith, Alvin became ill when a doctor gave him a dose of calomel, which lodged in Alvin’s stomach and became gangrenous. After several days of immense pain, Alvin called together the Smith children, providing each sibling with some final words of advice. When Alvin spoke to Joseph Jr., he said, “I want you to be a good boy, and do everything that lays in your power to obtain the record—be faithful in receiving instruction, and in keeping every commandment that is given you—your brother Alvin must leave now, but remember the example which he has set for you, and set the same example for the children that are younger than yourself—and always be kind to father and mother.”¹

The vision of the Celestial Kingdom found in Doctrine and Covenants 137 came before God revealed to Joseph Smith that the sealing power made it possible for living individuals to be baptized on behalf of those who are deceased. A few months later in the Kirtland temple Elijah appeared to Joseph and gave him “the keys of this dispensation” necessary to perform these ordinances. Joseph later explained that Elijah “restored the authority to join families together forever in eternal relationships that transcend death.”² It still took several more years until the principles surrounding work for the dead were fully revealed to Joseph. Once ordinances for the deceased were revealed, Alvin received the ordinances by proxy, including baptism, confirmation, initiatory, and the endowment. Alvin was also sealed to his mother and father, explaining their presence together in the celestial kingdom in this vision (D&C 137:5).³

1. Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, p. 91, JSP.

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

3. According to FamilySearch.org, Alvin Smith received his baptism, confirmation, initiatory, and endowment on April 10–11, 1877, in the St. George Utah Temple. He was sealed to his parents in the Salt Lake Temple on August 25, 1897. “Alvin Smith,” accessed July 14, 2021, https://www.FamilySearch.org/tree/person/ordinances/KWVC-7KB.

The death of his brother Alvin was a pivotal event in the life of Joseph Smith. Nearly two decades after Alvin’s passing, Joseph wrote of the nobility of his brother and the sorrow he felt over his death:

Alvin[,] my oldest brother, I remember well the pangs of sorrow that swelled my youthful bosom and almost burst my tender heart, when he died. He was the oldest, and the noblest of my father’s family. He was one of the noblest of the sons of men: Shall his name not be recorded in this Book? Yes, Alvin; let it be had here, and be handed down upon these sacred pages, forever and ever. In him there was no guile. He lived without spot from the time he was a child. From the time of his birth, he never knew mirth. He was candid and sober and never would play; and minded his father, and mother, in toiling all day. He was one of the soberest of men and when he died the Angel of the Lord visited him in his last moments.⁴

The truths revealed to Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 137 provide solace to all who have lost someone they loved. God, knowing all things, considers our knowledge and the state of our hearts before the Judgment. This system allows for perfect mercy and perfect justice for all people. The means for deceased individuals to make sacred covenants such as baptism came to Joseph Smith years later. But at this time, in 1836, all Joseph needed to know was that the door of salvation was still open for his brother. The Latter-day Saint view of the Savior’s conquest over death, a vital part of the message of the Restoration, took another step forward when Joseph saw his brother in the celestial kingdom. This brief glimpse allows all to understand the mercy of God and His infinite goodness. No person is lost. God will judge us based on the desires of our hearts.

4. Reflections and Blessings, 16 and 23 August 1842, p. 180, JSP.

Joseph Smith was already aware of the doctrine of the salvation of little children, in a general sense, through the teachings of prophets in the Book of Mormon. For example, Abinadi declared, “And little children also have eternal life” (Mosiah 15:25, see also Mosiah 3:18). Several other revelations found in the Doctrine and Covenants contain similar teachings (see D&C 29:46, 45:58, 68:25–28, 74:7). In an 1842 discourse recorded by Wilford Woodruff, Joseph Smith taught: “The Lord takes many away even in infancy that they may escape the envy of man, the sorrows and evils of this present world[,] and they were too pure and too lovely to live on Earth, Therefore[,] if rightly considered, instead of mourning we have reason to rejoice, as they are delivered from evil & we shall soon have them again.”⁵

For Joseph and Emma Smith, who lost several children before the age of accountability, the doctrine of the salvation of little children must have been immensely comforting. Most people in the early days of the Church saw many children die before they reached the age of accountability. Knowing that their little ones are waiting for them in the celestial kingdom and are not lost forever has provided solace for parents in Joseph and Emma’s time and in ours.

5. Discourse, 20 March 1842, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff, p. 134, JSP.