An image of heavenly living may be in the pattern of living in the "City of our Lord," with our Lord. The imagery of dwelling places such as tents with their poles (stakes), and curtains may represent the organized facilities and order of heaven.

"The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel." (Ether 13:5)

"And he spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come--after it should be destroyed it should be built up again, a holy city unto the Lord; wherefore, it could not be a new Jerusalem for it had been in a time of old; but it should be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be built unto the house of Israel. (Ether 13:5)

It seems that the "camp" of Israel was organized in a "City of the Lord" which was likened to the "House of The Lord." The families were on the outside, the priests (Levites) were next. They surrounded to holiest place (the Ark) where the Lord’s prophet communed with God. It may be likened to the terms telestial, terrestrial and celestial.

". . . it seems, the ancient Israelites were commanded to build a sanctuary so that God may dwell amongst them (Exodus 25:8). The Tabernacle became the place to which sacrifices were brought in times of joy and in times of sadness. It became the place to which Moses retired when he wanted to communicate with God. When the Children of Israel camped in the desert, the Tabernacle was erected at the very center of the camp; when they moved, the Tabernacle was taken apart, and was moved with them. Physically and spiritually it was the central object for the Children of Israel and it was through the Tabernacle that they felt their connection with God." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

"The tabernacle, sometimes called the temple, was a very ornate though portable building, which the children of Israel carried with them in the wilderness. It was to this temple that Hannah went to pray and where Samuel ministered. It was the duty of the Levites to take care of this building and keep it in order. They took it apart, carried it and all that pertained to it from place to place as the journeyed in the wilderness, and then set it up again when a new camp was made." (Doctrines of Salvation, Joseph Fielding Smith, Vol.3, Pg.112)

Even in the Book of Mormon, such an organized camp could be imagined as a special holy convocation was being held.

 

"And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from another. And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them;" (Mosiah 2:5-6)

It is easy to imagine that ancient Israel lived this way as a preparatory exercise of living with God.

"Balaam's eyes opened . . . , he stood on a lofty summit overlooking the camp of the People of Israel in the plain below . . . Balaam blessed the nation, predicting its victory over Edom and Moab . . . Balaam, seeing Israel's tents arranged in such a way that each family was assured of its privacy, praised the nation he had come to curse, with the words: "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, thy dwelling places, O Israel!" (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr. - Numbers 24:5)

Is it possible that the area of responsibility and assigned living was "staked" out, that there were stakes, poles or standards that identified the living areas?

"The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying "The Israelites shall camp each with his standard under the banners of their ancestral house" (Numbers 2:2). The standards borne by the 12 tribes served the same purpose as heraldic devices. Their colors and emblems were: Reuben red; emblem mandrakes. Simeon green; emblem the town of Shechem. Levi white, black and red; emblem the Urim and Thummim (Deuteronomy 33:9). Judah azure; emblem a lion. Issachar black; emblem a strong- boned ass or sun and moon. Zebulun white; emblem a ship. Dan sapphire; emblem a tent or a lion. Naphtali rose; emblem a hind. Asher aquamarine; emblem an olive-tree. Ephraim and Manasseh black, embroidered with a picture of Egypt; emblem: Ephraim, a bullock and Manasseh, a wild ox. Benjamin 12 colors; emblem a wolf." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

In the ancient days, the inner two courtyards were draped or had curtains draped between the stakes or poles and cords so that the sacredness and dignity of the priestly area and the Lord’s habitation were maintained.

"Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. (Isaiah 33:20)

"The Bible uses a variety of Hebrew terms when speaking of the place where God and Israel communed:

a) Mishkan -- "Dwelling" (God's dwelling place among the people of Israel).

b) Mishkan ha-Edut -- "The dwelling place of the Testimony" (the place where the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments were kept).

c) Ohel Mo'ed -- "Tent of Meeting" (where God reveals Himself to Israel). It should be noted that the words Mishkan and Ohel are synonyms. In the Bible they are both used to denote the Tabernacle.

d) Mikdash -- "Sanctuary" or the "Holy Place"; and especially Kodesh ha-Kodashim, the most holy place within the Tabernacle.

Some traditional commentators and many critical scholars believe that these terms may refer to more than one place;" (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

In the latter-days, an organizational unit called "Stakes of Zion" may have the same purpose in reminding us to live in dignity and sacredness and commune with God as a community.

"Until the day cometh when there is found no more room for them; and then I have other places which I will appoint unto them, and they shall be called stakes, for the curtains or the strength of Zion." (DC 101:21)

Jewish tradition tells us that Abraham’s life and dwelling were also the personification of hospitality; his tent was open on all four sides. He himself waited on guests, and taught them after meals to bring them to the faith in God.

When Jews marry, since they do not have a Temple, a Huppah is used. It is a remnant of the ancient temple garments, a Tallit, supported by four poles or stakes!

"Today, the term huppah refers to the decorative canopy under which the wedding ceremony is performed. Originally, however, it referred to the actual bridal chamber, the tent or room of the groom to which the bride was brought in festive procession for the marital union . . . the Talmud relates that there was an ancient custom to make staves of the huppah from a cedar and a pine tree planted specifically for this purpose at the birth of a male and female child respectively. In medieval France, it was customary for the groom to cover the bride's head with his tallit as a symbol of sheltering her; and in modern-day Israel, for weddings of soldiers on active duty, it is not unusual to see a huppah constructed of a tallit supported by four rifles held by friends of the bride and groom . . . among Orthodox Jews, the preferred custom is to erect the huppah outside, or at least in a spot open to the sky, underneath the stars, because of God's assurance to Abraham that He would make his descendants "as numerous as the stars of the heavens" (Genesis 22:17)." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

Obviously the descendants of Abraham are scattered throughout the world. Isaiah spoke numerous times of the scattering as well as the gathering or return of the covenant descendants. That gathering has physical as well as spiritual meanings. Just as we were sent from God to experience life and exercise our God given attributes, so do we have the opportunity to return to him.

 

Isaiah also taught disciplines that would draw us nearer to God and thereby make our return more sure. Fasting and prayers draw us nearer to Him. The most religious Jews have the regular practice of fasting at the beginning of every biblical month (never on a Sabbath except Yom Kippur).

"The purpose of the fast days in the Jewish calendar, such as Tish'ah Be'Av and the Day of Atonement is mainly educational and spiritual. Tish'ah Be'Av strengthens the Jew's identification with the Jewish People by remembering the catastrophe of the destruction of the Temples. The fast of Yom Kippur comes to remind us how we have used our bodies to disobey God's will and to hurt our fellow man. Both the prophets and the rabbis stressed that mere fasting without repentance for our bad deeds is valueless."

" The tenth of the Hebrew month of Tishrei is Yom Kippur, a day of fasting and prayer for all Israel, a day which has been significant to Jews throughout the ages. The Day of Atonement is the last of the Ten Days of Penitence which begin with Rosh Ha-Shanah, and is the climax of the repentance and soul-searching incumbent on every Jew during this period."

" Fasting is an act of repentance or of supplication seeking divine forgiveness or the prevention of disaster. Public fasts also commemorate catastrophic events in Jewish history . . . on fast days one neither eats nor drinks. On major fasts, other prohibitions are washing, wearing leather shoes, using ointments or perfumes, and other physical pleasures. There are special prayers and the Torah is read in the synagogue. Yom Kippur and Tishah be-Av are observed from sunset to sunset. All other fasts are from sunrise to sunset."

"When a natural or human disaster threatens or strikes a whole community, a public fast is proclaimed. In biblical times, fasting served to beseech the Almighty to end a famine or to lighten the oppression of foreign rulers." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

Anciently, sacrifices in the Temple were rituals that taught the principle of atonement. The blood of the first born, unblemished animal became a symbol of the blood of the "First Born Lamb of God." It may be that to emphasize the principle of bringing Him into our lives, the Children of Israel were instructed to refrain from eating any blood.

" The absolute prohibition to consume blood is one of the few laws in the Bible that is commanded not only to Jews but to all men (Genesis 9:4). It is thus a more universal law than the Ten Commandments. The reason given for the prohibition is that "the blood is the life; and thou shalt not eat the life with the flesh." (Deuteronomy 12:23, and elsewhere)."

"The dietary laws, the laws of kashrut, command us to drain and remove all the blood from cattle, beasts and fowl."

"In the dietary laws, too, salt is important. Before meat can be cooked, the blood must be removed, which is done by sprinkling coarse salt on it and leaving it for an hour. Salt has the property of attracting liquids and when, at the end of the hour, the meat is thoroughly washed, it is blood-free and ready for cooking." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

In that sense, even the color of blood (red) has stayed symbolic for Jews.

". . . there are Ashkenazim who attempt to protect their toddlers from harm by tying a red ribbon around their wrists." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

Anciently, the sacrifice of a rare, red calf, mentioned in the Book of Numbers 19:1-9, was for purification from sin.

"(The) Red Heifer - the animal whose ashes were used in the ritual purification ceremony, cleansing those made impure by contact with a human corpse or grave. In biblical times, the heifer was first slaughtered outside the Israelite camp and then burned. Its ashes were kept in a pure place and, when needed, were mixed with clear spring water . . . (for) . . . the ritually impure person . . ."

"The Bible is very specific about the kind of cow to be used. It had to be in perfect physical condition -- "a red heifer, faultless, containing no blemish and which has never been yoked." The rabbis interpreted "faultless" to mean perfect in color also, ruling that even two non-red hairs in its hide were enough to disqualify it. Obviously such an animal was very rare and apparently the ceremony was performed only a very few times in all of ancient Jewish history.

"Perhaps the strangest feature of the law of the red heifer is that, although the impure were cleansed by its ashes, all those who helped to perform the ceremony were rendered unclean by it and had themselves to be purified afterwards. Thus the red heifer was an agent of both purity and impurity. This paradox has puzzled the rabbis and the law remains one of the few in the Torah for which no rational explanation can be found." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

Someday, when the sacred teachings given in latter-day restored temples (the Lord’s Houses) can be given to all of God’s children, we will be able to enlarge the place of the Lord’s House and live in "The City of the Lord," a millennial expectation!

There is a tiny, yet prolific flower in Israel that we have come to know to be the Lilly of the field. It is a deeply red anemone. It’s springtime decoration of Israel is a reminder of his springtime redemption for all people.

 

Lilies of Red

The season bursts forth in radiance,
     painting the landscape in shades of green.
          Flowers add their rythymn in cadence,
               splashing color to brighten the scene.

                    Most precious are the lilies of red.
                         They spin not, they toil not, yet in their way,
                         they teach of the color of Him who bled,
                    on Gethsemane’s most fateful day.

               His glory is to lighten our load.
          He heals us with joy and harmony.
     A landscape of love for young and old,
His radiance opened eternity.

Chorus:

Lilies of red, they testified
     of Him who bled and died,
          Lilies of red, witness they give
          He died so we could live.
     He lives, he’s risen from the dead
praise God for Lilies of red.

Daniel Rona, 1996