Establishing the Center Place of Zion

In some of the earliest recorded revelations to Joseph Smith, the Lord taught the Latter-day Saints to “seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion” (Doctrine and Covenants 12:6). Zion was the name of the prophet Enoch’s city. The Old Testament explains that “Enoch walked with God” and that “God took him” and his entire city to be with Him in heaven (Genesis 5:24). In a revelation now part of the Book of Moses, the Lord taught Joseph Smith more about Enoch and his city. The Lord called the city Zion because its people “were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them” (Moses 7:18). As disciples of Jesus Christ adopt the principles from Enoch’s ancient city of Zion, they help prepare the world for the return of the Savior.¹

These revelations prompted Joseph and other early Church members to ask the Lord how to establish a city modeled after the city of Enoch. Responding to their questions, the Lord gave specific instructions about where and how to build Zion. He also explained the consequences of disobeying His words.

One of the first directions was to share the gospel with Native peoples living on the west side of the Missouri River. This area was part of the United States’ territory but not yet part of any state. Oliver Cowdery and four other missionaries accepted the assignment. This mission was the Church’s first organized attempt to share the gospel with people whose language and cultural beliefs differed from the missionaries.

In July 1831, Joseph Smith and other Church members visited the missionaries in Missouri. The closest city was Independence, in Jackson County. While there, the Lord identified the location of Zion’s center place as Independence (Doctrine and Covenants 57:2). The Lord commanded His people to gather there. He called Bishop Edward Partridge to buy property west of the courthouse. The land was for building 24 temples—consecrated buildings dedicated to doing the work of the Church of Jesus Christ in Zion.

The first of these 24 temples was designated as the house of the Lord. Joseph Smith received additional revelation appointing the location of this temple. On August 3, 1831, Joseph laid the first stone of the new temple. Later, the Prophet prepared a plat for the city. He also explained that Zion was more than just a center place. “When this square [or plat] is thus laid off and supplied,” he wrote in the margins of the plat document, “lay off another in the same way, and so fill up the world in these last days... for this is the City of Zion” (Joseph Smith Papers).

In Missouri, the Saints also learned how to care for one another and for the earth itself through praying, fasting, and observing the Sabbath. The Lord taught that this would unite and prepare them for future blessings, including peace and eternal life (Doctrine and Covenants 59:23).

Many heeded this counsel and sought to become pure in heart as they served those around them. But as more Church members settled in the area, tensions with neighbors grew. The earlier settlers feared that the Latter-day Saints would soon be able to outvote them. They felt that the religion offered its people a different view of democracy, and they were especially worried that the Saints would change the existing laws protecting slavery in the state.

Late in 1833, groups of armed Saints and their neighbors clashed violently. These attacks forced the Saints to abandon their lands and personal property in Jackson County. While these actions were illegal and not justified, the Lord also explained that He had “suffered the affliction to come upon [the Saints]. . . . in consequence of their transgressions,” including “jarrings, and contentions, and envyings, and strifes, and lustful and covetous desires,” which “polluted their inheritances” in Zion (Doctrine and Covenants 101:2, 6). Their behavior had been far beneath the standard of being the “pure in heart.”

As mob violence continued and the Saints struggled to carry on, the Lord assured them that their efforts to establish Zion, no matter how imperfect, were not in vain. “Zion,” He declared, “shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children are scattered” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:17).

Unable to build up Zion’s center place in Independence, Joseph focused on establishing stakes of Zion and building temples elsewhere. He began in Kirtland, Ohio, and then spread to Caldwell and Daviess Counties in Missouri.

The work of establishing Zion continues today in hundreds of temples and thousands of stakes around the world. Wherever Latter-day Saints gather under the direction of living prophets to make and keep sacred covenants, they prepare themselves and the world for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the King of Zion.