Blackmail, Washing Of Feet, And The Holy Of Holies.
What does Blackmail have to do with the Holy of Holies? Or the Washing of Feet? A lot! I want to share my story of learning about these three things with you! But first, let me start with this disclaimer: No disrespect is meant for the Temple, I work in the Temple, and I love it dearly. The quotes and pictures about the Temple, the Holy of Holies, and the Washing of Feet are quotes from either public addresses or the writings of the general authorities.
Since I've returned from my mission in 2014, I have had the chance to visit 70 different temples. I have learned a lot about the Temple, one of my favorite things I have learned has been about the Holy of Holies, and the history surrounding it.
I was talking to the former temple president of the Bismarck North Dakota Temple, and I asked him about the Holy of Holies and the Washing of Feet (Bismarck is a smaller temple). He was shocked and gave me a look of "You're 24, how do you know about that" and then he quoted President Hinckley, "Every ordinance that can be performed in the Salt Lake Temple, the largest in the Church, can be performed in these smaller temples."(Gordon B. Hinckley Oct 2000). He then continued to explain that "each Temple has all the rooms needed, the size and look of the rooms are the only difference. And I will leave it at that."
Before I get too far in, let me explain a little about the history of the Salt Lake Temple and the Holy of Holies.
Blackmail
The story around this photo is worth telling itself as it deals with apostasy and blackmail. In summary: In the early 1900's Gisbert Bossard, a former bishop, with the help of a groundskeeper snuck into the Salt Lake Temple during renovations and took almost 70 photographs of the Salt Lake Temple. Then a businessman named Florence tried to blackmail the church with these photos. He sent a letter demanding that the Prophet Joseph F. Smith pay a large sum of money (over 2 million dollars in today's money) Or he would sell them to "the highest bidder, be he Mormon, Jew or Gentile, I don't care which."
The reply from the Prophet? "I will make no bargain with thieves and traffickers in stolen goods." The Prophet then had a brilliant idea. Elder James E. Talmage had been writing a book about the Salt Lake Temple, "The House of the Lord." The idea? To take photographs of every room within the temple and include them in the book! Effectively snubbing Florence, the would-be blackmailer in the face. The Prophet even allowed Elder Talmage to include this picture of the Holy of Holies! (Here is the article The Deseret News ran about this 21 years ago)
The Purposes Of The Holy of Holies
The Holy of Holies has two main purposes:
First, the Holy of Holies is the dedicated place within the Temple for Jesus Christ to appear to his Especial witnesses. In the words of Joseph Smith, "No one can truly say he knows God until he has handled something, and this can only be done in the Holiest of Holies." Also in the words of President Boyd K Packer.
"hidden away in the central part of the temple is the Holy of Holies, where the President of the Church may retire when burdened down with heavy decisions to seek an interview with Him whose Church it is. The prophet holds the keys, the spiritual keys and the very literal key to this one door in that sacred edifice" ~Boyd K Packer (The Holy Temple, pg 4)
Second, the Holy of Holies includes the area for the administering of the higher ordinances of the Priesthood, like the washing of feet. "Washing of feet is a gospel ordinance; it is a holy and sacred rite, one performed by the saints in the seclusion of their temple sanctuaries."
Bruce R. McConkie (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, vol. 1, 708)
Elder Talmage explained it this way, "this room [the Holy of Holies] is reserved for the higher ordinances in the Priesthood relating to the exaltation of both living and dead" ~ James E. Talmage (The House of the Lord, pg 192–94.) The early saints understood that these ordinances were to be done in the Temple. No further evidence is needed than the original fourth verse to "The Spirit of God" as found in the 1836 Hymnal "A Collection of Sacred Hymns" by Emma Smith.
We’ll wash and be washed,
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
Every Temple Has A Holy of Holies
When I was visiting the Boston Temple, I learned that every temple has a Holy of Holies.
The older temples have a room that is solely a Holy of Holies, but in the newer temples like Boston, they have a sealing room that is designated to act as a Holy of Holies. The way you can tell which sealing room is the Holy of Holies is by finding the area for the washing of feet. If you are in a newer temple, there will be a door inside one of the sealing rooms that is locked, which leads to the place where the washing of feet is performed. If you have found that door, then you've found that Temple's Holy of Holies. One of the Temple workers in Boston pointed that out to me when I asked him, "Which sealing room was the Holy of Holies" he said, "This one (opening a door), because that locked door right there (pointing at a door with a lock) is for the room where they perform the washing of feet."
Finding the Holy of Holies has become one of my favorite things to do when I visit a temple. (In the Mount Timpanogos Temple, it is sealing room #8.) Some of the older Temples that had a room solely for the Holy of Holies have had the Holy of Holies retrofitted into a sealing room; this is the case with the Mesa Arizona Temple.
When I was visiting Mesa, I went to the Temple. After I did some Temple work, I wanted to find the Holy of Holies, so I asked if I could see the sealing rooms. They showed me the ones on the main floor, and they did not have any locked doors. I was a little disappointed. I then asked, "Is that all of them?" The Temple worker replied, "There is one other sealing room, it is up near the celestial room, we never use it, but you can go look at it if you'd like." I did, it was a small sealing room, totally out of place as it was separated from all other sealing rooms. When I first walked in, I noticed that on the left side of the room, there was a large locked door.
So next time you go to the Temple, be more observant, and maybe you will realize you've been doing sealings in a Holy of Holies.
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It's mostly semantics, but there is only 1 Holy of Holies, and that is in the Salt Lake Temple. The others are all sealing rooms that are designated to function temporarily as Holy of Holies if the Prophet has need of one. Basically, you could say that there is only ever 1 holy of holies, and it is wherever the Prophet is. Until then, it's a sealing room! Here is a great write up on that specific aspect: http://askgramps.org/does-each-temple-have-a-holy-of-holies/
Just because ask gramps says it, does not make it a fact.
Manti has a Holy of Holies, and it is not a sealing room.
Plus, Apostles use the Holy of Holies as well as the adjacent washing room, not just the Prophet.
Not true. When the SLC temple gets shut down in November 2019 for 4 years, then where can the church leaders turn to for the Holy of Holies? There are nearly 200 other temples that has this option.
There are actually 2. Thee other is in Washington DC
@Drew, The Washington DC temple does not have a separate room designated the Holy of Holies. It's one of the sealing rooms like all others, I forget which one it is (that temple has I believe 14 sealing rooms.) That was my temple for years, I was a worker there, I've been on every floor and down every hallway. If there was a Holy of Holies I would have known about it.
Sealing room 8, huh? Not coincidental, I would think. As the number 8 is representative of Christ. Fascinating post! Thank you!
@Adam, All of them are different numbers on the sealing rooms. The St. George temple is sealing room 3 and the Oquirrh Mountain temple is sealing room 1. I don't the sealing room number has any significance is this instsance.
Really neat post! I find it hard to find younger (I'm 33) LDS people who know or care to even discuss the deeper topics.
Thank you, you have confirmed many of the beliefs I have taught friendsfor years such as every temple has a room that can act as the Holy of Holies. I am from Arizona and in the 1980 I attended a sealing which was in that room off of the Celestial Room and I later noticed after it was remodeled that the no longer use that room for sealing; at that time I deduced that it was the room used as the Holy of Holies. I could be wrong on this but reading Letters of the First Presidency I thought it was Heber J. Grant who closed the Holy of Holies temporarily to lay members of the church but it was Spencer W. Kimball that re-opened it for lay members as invited by the prophet,
my comment isnt about the Temple just to say thankyou from an old old sister who really appreciates the work you put on here. you havnt been off your mission long and what a lot of things you have done. Im sure you are being blessed in many ways. thankyou again
I enjoyed reading this. Thanks for sharing your experience. One thing that I've learned that you might find interesting is the Gospel of Philip, included with the Nag Hammadi Library found in 1945. Its ancient text speaks of a "mirrored bridal chamber". And that "those who have united in the bridal chamber will no longer be separated." Sounds like the Celestial Marriage, right? I always find it comforting to find support that Joseph Smith was a prophet.
And, while it's not an exact match, it mentions that the "The Holy of the Holies" is the bridal chamber, but that is the Early Church. However, to me, it only feels appropriate that our Holy of Holies be adjacent to, or a room off of the sealing rooms, and as a whole should treat those rooms with more sacredness (not secrecy).
The locked door in the sealing room it is not a door which leads you to another room named Holy of Holies, it is just a wardrobe where is the basin and all the stuff to perform the washing of feet and the second anointing.
The sealing room functions as the holy of holies, the locked door is just where the water fixture for the washing of feet is.
I worked in the Mesa Temple for 15 years. The sealing room you are referring to is next to the Celestial room. The door in the sealing room goes directly into the Celestial room. It was locked when the temple was renovated. There is an identical door on the opposite side of the room that also went to a sealing room. That room was eliminated so the veil could be extended, we needed more space. If you go to some of the early temples like Manti and St. George you will see sealing rooms that are entered through the Celestial Room. That is what was in the Mesa Temple originally. I was told at one point that the very small sealing room that is on the mezzanine level between floors was used by President Kimball for that purpose, but I am not sure if that is the case. In any event, the temple is undergoing extensive renovations right now so much will be different when it is done.
I’m interested to know is there any lay members that have received their calling and election sure....I read where only higher up in the church get this and they can recommend others for this.....seems unfair practice, so I am wondering if this happens to any members that serve in small towns etc,,,,,,that may not know a person from the 70s or general authorities,,,,,if you know can you say how it happens,,,?
My old YSA Bishop from Cedar Fort Utah shared a story from a lady in his stake at FHE once.
(This story took place when he was the stake president). She called asking him for a blessing. He came over with I think the Bishop and gave her a blessing. In the blessing, he felt prompted to say she had her calling and election made sure. After the blessing, he told her that he had no right to declare that. She smiled and said she knew, and that she was returning from Salt Lake temple where she was just charged not to talk about what happened, but she wanted her kids to receive the same blessings and promises she was given. In telling us this story he stressed that she was the wife of a farmer, not a notable/prominent member.
Anyone can.
Wonderful a new discovery for me. I never thought every temple has this sacred room. Next time I will go to the Toronto temple I will explore. Thanks
Many valiant worth members of the Church in the 1800's and early 1900's received these sacred ordinances. Their journals and letters give reports that higher ordinances were received by these members, but did not include a description of the ordinances as they were instructed not to, as they were personal, private and sacred.
Today, these ordinances are given to worthy members, . A Church position is not required
And no, I am not one who has received this blessing.
Thanks for the info. I have noticed that in our of our two sealing rooms in our local (small temple) there is a door --- I just assumed it was a closet and never worried about it. The other sealing room has no such door.
I have seen the doors to the Holy of Holies in the Salt Lake Temple --- center doors on the south side of the Celestial Room -- usually has a large vase sitting in front of them.
Thanks for sharing this.
Has anyone seen this sealing room in the Provo Utah Temple (in Provo City Center Temple it's sealing room 5)? I've been looking as I've done sealings there over the years but have not seen it yet. Is it possible it's someplace else?
Jesus Christ performed this ordinance for his apostles after the last supper.