Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Nephi 21:12

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Nephi 21:12
"And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."

This made me think of Ensign Peak where the saints placed a ensign to the nations when they first entered the Salt Lake Valley. They were outcasts and yet from here the gospel would be preached to the four corners of the earth, and the saints would be gathered into its stakes and branches. It also made me think of this quote from Elder Boyd K. Packer.

"We speak of the Church as our refuge, our defense. There is safety and protection in the Church. It centers in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Latter-day Saints learn to look within themselves to see the redeeming power of the Savior of all mankind. The principles of the gospel taught in the Church and learned from the scriptures become a guide for each of us individually and for our families.

We know that the homes we establish, and those of our descendants, will be the refuge spoken of in the revelations—the “light,” the “standard,” the “ensign” for all nations, and the “refuge” against the gathering storms."
(Boyd K. Packer, "A Defense and a Refuge", Oct 2006 General Conference)

"Verily I say unto you all: Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations;
And the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth."
(Doctrine & Covenants 115:5-6)

I listened to the hymn "High on the Mountain Top."


High on the mountain top
A banner is unfurled.
Ye nations, now look up;
It waves to all the world.
In Deseret’s sweet, peaceful land,
On Zion’s mount behold it stand!

For God remembers still
His promise made of old
That he on Zion’s hill
Truth’s standard would unfold!
Her light should there attract the gaze
Of all the world in latter days.

His house shall there be reared,
His glory to display,
And people shall be heard
In distant lands to say:
We’ll now go up and serve the Lord,
Obey his truth and learn his word.

For there we shall be taught
The law that will go forth,
With truth and wisdom fraught,
To govern all the earth.
Forever there his ways we’ll tread,
And save ourselves with all our dead.


Day 1806

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 18:3

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 18:3
"All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye."

Earlier this month I was traveling from Ogden to my home in American Fork. Along the way I wondered which mountain was Ensign Peak. In all my time here in Utah I have never been up to it. Not even sure if I can get up to it. Anyways it has been on my mind of late, so when I read this chapter I was reminded again of Ensign Peak. I found several accounts of the story to read.

Ensign Peak, photo by Brandon Flint

Soon after entering the valley, President Young pointed at Ensign Peak and said, “I want to go there.” He suggested that the peak "was a proper place to raise an ensign to the nations," and so it was named Ensign Peak. On July 26, 1847, a party consisting of Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Ezra T. Benson, George A. Smith, Wilford Woodruff, Albert Carrington, William Clayton, Lorenzo Dow Young, and perhaps Parley P. Pratt climbed to the top of the hill. Of the event, Wilford Woodruff recorded that the group “went North of the camp about five miles and we all went onto the top of a high peak in the edge of the mountain which we considered a good place to raise an ensign upon which we named Ensign Peak or Hill. I was the first person that ascended this hill. Brother Young was very weary in climbing the peak, he being feeble.” While on the Peak, the group surveyed the valley below with Heber Kimball’s telescope to confirm their earlier judgment of the valley. “They appeared delighted with the view of the surrounding country,” said one of the settlers who heard the explorers’ report later in the day. From this experience, the group gained the perspective necessary to begin planning the settlement. At this time, President Young apparently also determined the location of the temple, which he announced two days later, on July 28, by planting his walking stick at the site selected for the temple and saying, "Here we will build the temple of our God."
https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/salt-lake-city/3-ensign-peak-historical-preview

"And when President Young first set his foot upon the ground where the Temple now stands in Salt Lake City, by the testimony of the spirit of God that was in his heart, by the inspiration of the Almighty, he exclaimed to the pioneers: “Here we will make our resting place, and here is the spot upon which we will build the Temple.” He had before seen an ensign descend and light upon the mountain peak which is now called from that circumstance “Ensign Peak”—which was an indication to him that this was the resting place God designed for His people.
(JD 24:150, Joseph F. Smith, Interest in the Work of God, Etc.)

I found it fascinating that the first endowments given in this valley was upon Ensign Peak. From this valley people have been endowed on high and missionaries have been sent to preached the gospel to the nations.

In my reading I discovered lyrics to the the hymn "High on the Mountain Top" came to Joel Johnson while glancing up at Ensign Peak. I had to listen to it.




Day 1272