Description
Easter Sunday 1836
Easter Sunday morning, April 3rd, 1836, Kirtland, Ohio. Joseph Smith and other members of the First Presidency opened up the Kirtland House of the Lord and assisted the members to be seated. Joseph and that congregation of an estimate of about 1, 000 persons then became attentive listeners as Thomas B. Marsh and David W. Patton preached from the stand.
That afternoon the congregation came again and members of the 12 blessed the emblems of the sacrament and the prophet Joseph helped pass it. And then, according to witnesses, the veils were dropped in the very large assembly room on the main floor, dividing it into sections, confirmation, and blessings of children were carried on in those gatherings as Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery climbed the pulpits at the west end of the Kirtland Temple.
The pulpits themselves have been divided by veils according to tier. Joseph and Oliver ascended to the top tier reserved for the presidency and there they knelt in silent prayer. Moments later, after arising from prayer, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to them in glory, accepting that house and promising that therein he would appear to his servants and speak to them.
He further promised that many tens of thousands would rejoice over the blessings and endowments that had been and would be poured out in that house. That sacred structure would become a monument, famous the world over, for what was revealed there and what happened this last week furthers that promise and prophecy of the Lord.
The vision closed and another vision burst upon them. Moses appeared and committed the keys of the gathering of Israel. Then came Elias and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham saying that in them and in their seed, all generations after them should be blessed. And lastly, Elijah the prophet holding the keys of the sealing power, appeared and committed his keys unto them.
Now, it was no accident that Elijah appeared on that day. It was the season of the Passover and the Jews, the world over, had continued to set a place for that prophet whose return had been prophesied for two millennia plus. Moreover, it was no coincidence that Jesus appeared on that day, it being 1,803 years to the very day of the Savior’s resurrection. So how often does Easter Sunday occur on both April 3rd and 16 Nisan as it did in AD 33? It happens less than once in every century on the average. The year 1836 was the only such occurrence of the melding of those two dates in the 19th century.
On that monumental and eternally orchestrated day, all the keys of the priesthood necessary to gather the lost families of Israel, organize them once again into family units, and seal upon them the ordinances to exalt them were made fully operative. Unequivocally, individually, and collectively that day was the single most important day in human history since the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Is it any wonder then that we go to such great lengths to preserve that site? Wherein such a singularly important event occurred.
Sources:
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/194
