The Tower of Babel vs the City of Enoch/Zion/New Jerusalem

Telling us much more about Enoch and his city than the Bible, I wish the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price would go on for just a little longer and cover the Tower of Babel as well. There is little information about the details and motives of the building of the tower, but there is much speculation, tradition and opinion. The reason I even bring this up is because I read this passage in Ether 13:8

8 Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the earth shall pass away.

9 And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new.

10 And then cometh the New Jerusalem; and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph, who were of the house of Israel.

11 And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father, Abraham.

What does that have to do with the Tower of Babel? The Book of Ether starts with the Tower of Babel and the confounding of the languages and scattering of the people. Ether 1:33

Which Jared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered.

I think that the antithetic parallels here are interesting, the contrast between events at the time of the Brother of Jared, who was the first Jaredite prophet, and the prophecies of Ether, who was the last Jaredite prophet. It makes a case for the Tower of Babel as an anti-Zion. Although Enoch is not discussed in Ether 13, the talk about a New Jerusalem has clear links to Enoch in the Book of Moses. Moses 7:62-63

62 And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem.

63 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other

Sounds really neat. But how is the Tower of Babel in opposition to this? Again, we have too little information to do much more than speculate. Some have speculated that it was a form of corrupted temple worship. Others have speculated that they wanted to avoid the consequences of another flood, not trusting God's promise to Noah. I couldn't find a good source so I'm not going to quote it, but I have seen some hints of Joseph Smith teaching that the Tower of Babel was an attempt to reach the City of Enoch that had been taken up. In this context, that is certainly interesting. In any case, the Tower of Babel can be viewed as an attempt by men to lift themselves instead of hearkening to God and letting Him lift them.

The consequence for those who built the Tower of Babel was confounding and scattering. Those who build up Zion will "no more be confounded" and will be gathered. They do not try to reach heaven by their own merits but by washing their garments "through the blood of the Lamb" as Ether 13:10 states. In a previous post, I explained that the symbolic meaning of the Hebrew letter, Gimel, is lifting up. Coupled with El (Hebr."God") we get ga'el, the Hebrew word for redeem. When the Gimel is not coupled with God/El, like the people at the Tower of Babel trying to elevate themselves, there is no redemption.