In this post, we'll close out the endowment pattern series by looking at the Doctrine & Covenants and see how the symbolism of Adam and Eve that we find repeated throughout scriptural account of the formation of new covenant groups can also be found in our modern day revelations. God is calling us to leave the fallen world behind, enter the metaphorical wilderness, cross over the waters and enter into His rest.
We'll conclude this series by looking at a pretty direct historical example in church history, then we'll conclude the series by reviewing some verses from the Doctrine & Covenants in which some of the elements of the endowment pattern are put to use. Below that, I'll list some verses from the Doctrine & Covenants which beautifully portray how this same endowment pattern is in effect for covenant-keeping latter-day saints in our day.
Exodus from Nauvoo
After the cold-blooded murder of their prophet and his brother, the saints were called to leave Nauvoo and travel into the wilderness to find refuge in the mountains to the west. They "covenant[ed] to leave no one behind... who wished to go west" (Saints, Vol. 1, Ch. 46). This trek began by crossing the Mississippi river and camping (in tents) along the banks of the Mississippi, then making the trek west.
Reading Doctrine & Covenants 136 with the endowment pattern in mind is pretty interesting:
2 Let all the people of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and those who journey with them, be organized into companies, with a covenant and promise to all the commandments and statutes of the Lord our God.
3 Let the companies be organized with captains of , captains of fifties, and captains of tens, with a president and his two counselors at their head, under the direction of the Twelve .
4 And this shall be our —that we will in all the of the Lord. ...
8 Let each company an equal proportion, according to the dividend of their property, in taking the poor, the , the , and the families of those who have gone into the army, that the cries of the widow and the come not up into the ears of the Lord against this people.
9 Let each company prepare houses, and fields for raising , for those who are to remain behind this season; and this is the will of the Lord concerning his people.
10 Let every man use all his influence and property to remove this people to the place where the Lord shall locate a of Zion.
11 And if ye do this with a pure heart, in all faithfulness, ye shall be blessed; you shall be in your flocks, and in your herds, and in your fields, and in your houses, and in your families. (D&C 136)
Conclusion
God desires to bless us with "the greatest of all blessings" if we will hearken to His voice and covenant to obey Him and trust in Him to guide us to a land of plenty. His promise is that if we hearken to His voice, He will teach us through (priesthood ordinances and temple covenants) to call upon Him with a voice that He promises to hear.
1 Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the Great I Am, whose arm of hath for your sins;
2 Who will his people even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, even as many as will hearken to my voice and themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer. (Doctrine & Covenants 29)
66 Behold, that which you hear is as the of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is ; my Spirit is truth; abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound. (Doctrine & Covenants 88)
1 Hearken and , O ye my people, saith the Lord and your God, ye whom I delight to bless with the greatest of all , ye that hear me; (Doctrine & Covenants 41)
