“Temple patterns are as old as human life on earth. Actually, the plan for temples was established even before the foundation of the world,” taught President Russell M. Nelson.2 Moreover, he states, “Temple ordinances and covenants have been an integral part of the gospel since the days of Adam and Eve.”3 At the April 2019 general conference, President Nelson added this understanding: the couples “Adam and Eve, Noah and his wife, Abraham and Sarah, Lehi and Sariah,” plus “all other devoted disciples of Jesus Christ—since the world was created—have made the same covenants with God. They have received the same ordinances that we as members of the Lord’s restored Church today have made: those covenants that we receive at baptism and in the temple.”4
On May 4, 1842, Joseph Smith “instituted the Ancient order of things for the first time in these last days,” referring to the endowment, and designating it the “order pertaining to the ancient of Days.”5 Ancient of Days is a title of Adam (see D&C 27:11; 116:1; 138:38), indicating that through this order Adam and Eve received the blessings of the endowment. During the course of the day, Joseph Smith “attend[ed] to washings, anointings, endowments and the communication of Keys pertaining to the Aaronic Priesthood, and so on to the highest order of Melchisedec Priesthood, setting forth the order pertaining to the ancient of Days, and all those plans and principles, by which any one is enabled to secure the fulness of those blessings, which have been prepared for the Church of the first born, and come up and abide in the presence of the Eloheim in the Eternal worlds.”6 Of course, Joseph Smith had spent more than a decade preparing the Saints for this ancient order, through a number of revelations and teachings.
Consistent with the topic of the “ancient order,” Joseph Smith explained, “The order of the house of God has been, and ever will be, the same, even after Christ comes; and after the termination of the thousand years it will be the same; and we shall finally enter into the celestial Kingdom of God, and enjoy it forever.”7
Why are these matters so important? President Nelson explains, “The antiquity and modernity of temple activity blend and bridge the gulf of time. Even the newest temples closely relate to ancient times.”8 President Nelson sums up, “These sacred temple rites are ancient. To me that antiquity is thrilling and another evidence of their authenticity.”9