Temple Names

I’ve always been very interested in the etymology or origin of words. If we look at what the names of the first temples of the church actually mean, I think we can gain some insights into the prophecies and promises that are being fulfilled in the last dispensation. The very first temple of the restored temple was built in Kirtland. Kirtland is a variant of Kirk + land, and kirk is an Old English word for church. So Kirtland means the land of the church. The Kirtland temple was built upon the American continent, the land that has been promised for the restoration of Christ’s church. The Kirtland temple was built upon the land of the Church. The second temple was built in Nauvoo. Nauvoo in Hebrew means beautiful, and Joseph Smith called the city Nauvoo based on Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” The Nauvoo temple was built in the City Beautiful, and has been important in publishing peace and salvation. The third temple was built in St. George, Utah. I think there are two lessons we can learn from this name. St. George was a legendary saint of ancient Rome that was martyred for not renouncing his Christian faith. He is also part of a legend in which he slays a dragon. “In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea” (Isaiah 27:1). Satan is often referred to as a dragon or a serpent in the scriptures and with each temple built, the Lord slays a little more of the Dragon’s power. A second lesson to be learned from the name George, is if you go back to the original Greek, George comes from the words earth and work. Temples are where we do work for the whole Earth. The fourth temple was built in Logan in the Cache Valley. Logan means hollow or cleft in Gaelic. Logan is also the county seat for Cache Valley, and cache means a collection of items of the same type stored in a hidden or inaccessible place.The temple contains stores of hidden knowledge. “And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures” (D&C 89:19). Temples are also a place where we can hide ourselves from the world. “And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain” (Isaiah 4:6). The fifth temple is the Manti Temple. The Manti temple is built on a great hill, and the city of Manti is named after a city in the Book of Mormon. It’s hard to trace the etymology but there is a suggestion that it is based on an Egyptian word Montu, which means Nomad. As Jacob in the Book of Mormon has said, “The time passed away like as it were unto us a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers,” (Jacob 7:26). We may be wanderers and nomads, but there are temples built upon a hill that can be seen from miles around and as we come unto them we can find a place that we belong and can rest from our wanderings. The Seventh temple is In Salt Lake City. In the scriptures, salt is a representative of covenants. “When men are called unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant, they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men” (D&C 101:39). The temples are where everlasting covenants are made, and every person that goes to the temple for themselves or on behalf of deceased family members adds to the salt of the earth. And since the church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, and since the keys of the Priesthood are held there, then Salt Lake City is the ultimate source of all covenants and is a great lake of the salt of the covenant. The eighth temple was in Laie Hawaii. Laie comes from two hawaiian words. La means leaf, and ie’ie’ is a kind of vine that hawaiians used to make fishing baskets and even helmets. The ie’ie’ vine has no roots but grafts itself into the branches of other trees. We have been taught that the Lord has scattered branches of the tree of Israel across the isles of the sea. “Yes, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land” (Alma 26:36). How fitting that the first temple built on the isles of the sea means a leaf of the vine that is grafted on. The ninth temple is built in Cardston Alberta. Cardston was named after the settler Charles Ora Card. The name Card refers to the act of carding wool, where wool is combed and cleaned and all impurities are removed. Cardston is in the Province of Alberta. Alberta in Old High German means noble and bright. “Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Thanks to the temple and the Atonement of Christ, our wool can be made white and bright and noble. The tenth temple was built in Mesa Arizona. Mesa in Spanish means table, and Arizona most likely comes from the O’odham word meaning “small spring”. “Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed;” (Psalms 78: 19-20). God has furnished a table in the wilderness, and from the Mesa and all other temples living waters gush forth and the more we attend the temples, the less we will hunger and thirst. I’ll stop here but I believe if we did a little digging we could find significant insights in each of the names that has been chosen for the Houses of the Lord.