The Holy of Holies or Holiest of Holies is a room in the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the largest Latter-day Saint temple by floor area. Dedicated in 1893, it is the sixth templ ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church), wherein the church's

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

— acting as the Presiding High Priest of the church — enters to act as

High Priest of Israel High Priest ( he, כהן גדול, translit=Kohen Gadol or ; ) was the title of the chief religious official of Judaism from the early post- Exilic times until the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE. Previous ...

in direct relationship with God, in accordance with the LDS interpretation of the

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through ...

. Hence, this Holy of Holies in the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

is considered by adherents to be a modern

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical ef ...

to the inner sanctuary of the

Tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...

and

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...

. The room was also the place where the second anointing ordinance was administered, although now any room in a temple set apart for this purpose is used.

Location and description

The Holy of Holies is a room adjoining the

celestial room In temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), an ordinance room is a room where the ceremony known as the '' Endowment'' is administered, as well as other ordinances such as Sealings. Some temples perform a progres ...

of the

. The room is described in the ''

Encyclopedia of Mormonism The ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'' is a semi-official English-language encyclopedia for topics relevant to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, see also "Mormon"). The five-volume texts have been digitized and are available ...

'': "Beyond its sliding doors are six steps to similar doors, symbolic of the veil that guarded the Holy of Holies in ancient times. The sanctuary is of circular design with a domed ceiling. The appointments include inlaid wood, gold leaf, stained glass, and unique lighting." The room includes a twelve-foot stained glass window, designed by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, depicting the First Vision of

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, h ...

Teachings by LDS Church leaders

Boyd K. Packer Boyd Kenneth Packer (September 10, 1924 – July 3, 2015) was an American religious leader and educator who served as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 2008 until h ...

, who was a member of the

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to '' Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

, has stated that "hidden away in the central part of the temple is the Holy of Holies, where the President of the Church may retire when burdened down with heavy decisions to seek an interview with Him whose Church it is. The prophet holds the keys, the spiritual keys and the very literal key to this one door in that sacred edifice". Apostle

James E. Talmage James Edward Talmage (21 September 1862 – 27 July 1933) was an English chemist, geologist, and religious leader who served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) fro ...

stated that "this room is reserved for the higher ordinances in the Priesthood relating to the exaltation of both living and dead".

, the founder of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...

, stated that "no one can truly say he knows God until he has handled something, and this can only be done in the Holiest of Holies".

Cognate of the "most holy place"

Although not a general rule, in certain contexts outside of the LDS Church the term "Holy of Holies" may be synonymous with the "most holy place" referred to in the Book of Exodus. The construction "Holy of Holies" is a translation of a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language ...

''Qodesh haQodashim'' ( ''קֹדֶשׁ הַקָּדָשִׁים'' ), referring to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle or Temple in Jerusalem. In

Biblical Hebrew Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of t ...

, the

Holy of Holies The Holy of Holies (Hebrew: ''Qōḏeš haqQŏḏāšīm'' or ''Kodesh HaKodashim''; also הַדְּבִיר ''haDəḇīr'', 'the Sanctuary') is a term in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle, where God's pres ...

is distinguished from the phrase ''most holy'' by the definite article; viz. the room is the Q''odesh haQodashim "''Holy of the Holies" and anything else described as most holy is ''Qodesh Qodashim'', "Holy of Holies". In the

King James Version of the Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

, this sanctuary is always referred to as the "most holy place"; this usage is followed in the LDS Church book of

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...

known as the

Doctrine and Covenants The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C or D. and C.) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Chu ...

In church scriptures

Speaking of the purposes of temples

"Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your memorials for your sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and ''for your oracles in your most holy places'' wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments, for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name."

First Presidency receives the oracles for the church

"I give unto oseph Smithfor counselors my servant Sidney Rigdon and my servant William Law, that these may constitute a quorum and First Presidency, to ''receive the oracles for the whole church''".Doctrine & Covenants 124:126
(emphasis added).

References

External links

*{{cite news , author= Liu, Yvonne., title=What the Church Has Said About the Holy of Holies , work=LDS Living , date=July 14, 2018 , url=https://www.ldsliving.com/What-the-Church-Has-Said-About-the-Holy-of-Holies/s/88839 , accessdate=2020-08-29 Individual rooms Significant places in Mormonism Temples (LDS Church) Salt Lake Temple