Temples, by the Numbers · In Scripture
Long before there were 222 dedicated temples, there was a tent in the wilderness. Here are 20 passages that trace the house of the Lord through all four books of scripture, each with links to read it in context, the General Conference talks that cite it and the Weak Things study pages that go deeper.
The Old Testament
Exodus 25:8
And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
In the wilderness, the Lord asked Israel for a sanctuary, the tabernacle, so He could dwell among His people. It traveled with them into the promised land.
1 Kings 8:10–11
And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
When Solomon dedicated the temple in Jerusalem, the glory of the Lord filled it so completely that the priests could not stay to minister. Centuries later, Nephi patterned a temple after this one.
Psalm 24:3–4
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
A question asked at the temple gate: who may go up to the Lord’s house? The answer is about the heart and the hands, not rank or wealth.
Isaiah 2:2–3
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Isaiah saw the Lord’s house established in the last days, with people of every nation going up to learn His ways. Latter-day Saint leaders have often connected this prophecy with the temples of the latter days, beginning in the Rocky Mountains.
Ezekiel 47:1, 9
Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.
In Ezekiel’s vision, water flows out from under the temple door and grows into a river that heals everything it reaches. It is a picture of what flows from the temple into the world.
Malachi 4:5–6
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
The Old Testament closes with a promise: Elijah will turn the hearts of parents and children toward each other. The angel Moroni quoted this prophecy to Joseph Smith in 1823, and it was fulfilled in the Kirtland Temple in 1836.
The New Testament
Luke 2:46, 49
And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?
At twelve, Jesus stayed behind at the temple in Jerusalem, listening to the teachers and asking them questions. When Mary and Joseph found Him, He spoke of being about His Father’s business.
John 2:16
And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
Jesus drove the merchants out of the temple courts. The temple was His Father’s house, and He would not let it be treated as a market.
1 Corinthians 3:16
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Paul taught the Corinthian Saints that they themselves were a temple, because the Spirit of God dwelt in them.
1 Corinthians 15:29
Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?
Paul mentions baptism for the dead as a practice the Corinthians already knew, and uses it as evidence of the Resurrection. It is the only verse in the Bible that names the ordinance.
Revelation 7:15
Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
John saw a great multitude from every nation, clothed in white, serving God day and night in His temple.
The Book of Mormon
2 Nephi 5:16
And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.
Within 30 years of leaving Jerusalem, Nephi’s people built a temple in their new land, patterned after Solomon’s but with simpler materials.
Mosiah 2:6
And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them;
For King Benjamin’s final sermon, families camped around the temple with their tent doors facing it. The temple was the center of the gathering.
3 Nephi 11:1, 10
And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful; and they were marveling and wondering one with another, and were showing one to another the great and marvelous change which had taken place. Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.
After His Resurrection, Jesus Christ appeared to a multitude gathered at the temple in the land Bountiful. His first words told them who He was.
The Doctrine and Covenants
Doctrine and Covenants 88:119
Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;
In December 1832, the Lord commanded the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio, to build a house of God. This verse names seven things that house would be.
Doctrine and Covenants 109:22
And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them;
From the prayer Joseph Smith offered at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple on March 27, 1836. He recorded that the prayer was given to him by revelation.
Doctrine and Covenants 110:7, 15
For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house. To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—
One week after the dedication, on April 3, 1836, Jesus Christ appeared in the Kirtland Temple and accepted it. Moses, Elias and Elijah followed, and Elijah restored the keys Malachi had promised.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:40
And verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people;
In Nauvoo, in January 1841, the Lord commanded another temple so He could reveal His ordinances there. Baptisms for the dead began in its font that November, before the building was finished.
Doctrine and Covenants 128:15
And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect.
Writing from Nauvoo in 1842, Joseph Smith explained why the work for the dead matters: the living and the dead cannot be made perfect without each other.
Doctrine and Covenants 138:58
The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God,
In October 1918, President Joseph F. Smith saw the Savior’s work among the spirits of the dead. His vision ties their redemption to the ordinances of the house of God.
In General Conference, 2000 to 2026
How many General Conference talks since April 2000 cite each of these verses in their footnotes. Each one opens its own page with every talk, who quotes it most and the verses it is paired with.
Counts come from the citation data behind Scripture Web, 1,946 talks from April 2000 to October 2026.