Temple symbols in 2 Nephi 14

2 Nephi 14 (also Isaiah 4) presents us with a glorious future state of the redemption of Zion. This chapter speaks of a time when the world will see that the fruit of the earth in Zion is "excellent and comely." (See verse 2.)

After that, we get these verses which have very clear connections to the temple covenant.

3 And it shall come to pass, they that are left in Zion and remain in Jerusalem shall be called holy, every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem—
4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning.
5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory of Zion shall be a defence.
6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and a covert from storm and from rain. (2 Nephi 14/Isaiah 4)

Isaiah is telling us that the fruit of the earth is excellent because of their faithfulness to the covenant.  This fits in perfectly with the image of Zion as an enclosed garden -- in verse 5 we are told that the glory will be covered. (In the NRSV, the last part of verse 5 reads: "Indeed over all the glory there will be a canopy.")

I want to make one more point in this post. In the next few posts, I'll go into more detail about this post and demonstrate additional examples.  The parallelism in verse 4 caught my attention:

         4 When the Lord
                       shall have washed away
                              the filth of
                                    the daughters of Zion,
         and
                       shall have purged
                              the blood of
                                    Jerusalem
         from the midst thereof
                       by the spirit of judgment
         and
                       by the spirit of burning.


Notice how "filth" and "blood" are lined up in this construct.  The associated Hebrew roots are "tsoah" and "dam," respectively. This is very interesting in light of the connections Stisa recently pointed out regarding the Hebrew words for man, ground, God, and tree.

Verse 3 tells us that those "who are left in Zion and remain in Jerusalem shall be called holy." Verse 4 tells us why -- they have been purged of the blood and filth by the spirit of "burning" and "judgment."

More about this to come.