Saviors on Mount Zion
This term is first used in scripture in Obadiah 1:3: But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness….And saviors shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s. The commission given to Saviors on Mount Zion is to fulfill the promise of the Lord to send Elijah to seal the heart of the Fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their Fathers (Malachi 1:12). Mount Zion is the future holy city upon which the Lamb of God shall stand in the midst of His people and shall reign over all flesh. This work is what makes one a Savior on Mount Zion. It is the way to salvation for the living and the dead. Joseph Smith explained: “But how are they to become saviors on Mount Zion? By building their temples, erecting their baptismal fonts, and going forth and receiving all the ordinances, baptisms, confirmations, washings, anointings, ordinations and sealing powers upon their heads, in behalf of all their progenitors who are dead, and redeem them that they may come forth in the first resurrection and be exalted to thrones of glory with them; and herein is the chain that binds the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, which fulfills the mission of Elijah. And I would to God that this temple was now done, that we might go into it, and go to work and improve our time, and make use of the seals while they are on earth.”1 In T&C 151:14, it says: It is sufficient to know in this case that the earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the Fathers and the children, upon some subject or other. And behold, what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead, for we without them cannot be made perfect, neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they or us be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also, for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fullness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole, and complete, and perfect union and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories, should take place and be revealed, from the days of Adam even to the present time. And not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this the dispensation of the fullness of times. The only way for deceased ancestors to participate in this redemption is through a descendant here on Earth performing the necessary vicarious work for them. Without a descendant, the genealogical work is not sought, nor the ordinances performed.2
The Savior taught His code of conduct in the Sermon on the Mount. If you want to understand Christ’s life, that single sermon defines Him. If any person lives these teachings, they become a “type” of Christ or an example that mirrors Him. He lived the pattern fully, while others live it imperfectly, but even so, when anyone is following His lead, they typify His teachings and thereby become types of Christ. It is for this reason the scriptures speak of “saviors on Mount Zion.” Those referred to as “saviors” in this context are types of the One who really saved us all.3
“President Joseph Smith, by request of the Twelve Apostles gave instructions on the doctrine of baptism for the dead, which were listened to with intense interest by the large assembly. He presented baptism for the dead as the only way that men can appear as saviors on Mount Zion.”4 “The election of the promised seed still continues, and in the last day, they shall have the Priesthood restored unto them, and they shall be the ‘saviors on Mount Zion,’ the ministers of our God.”5 The significance of having a functioning temple, an hierocentric point around which all things in Zion are organized, recognized, and approved by the Lord for His people was also emphasized: “The Main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house and the glories of His kingdom, and teach the people the way of salvation; for there are certain ordinances and principles that, when they are taught and practiced, must be done in a place or house built for that purpose.”6 A conditional warning is given to those who are set to be a light unto the world and to be the saviors of men: Inasmuch as they keep not my commandments, and hearken not to observe all my words, the kingdoms of the world shall prevail against the m… and inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men they are as salt that has lost its savor and is then good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under the feet of men (T&C 104:3).7
1 TPJS, 330; WJS, 318; DHC 6:184.
2 Nephi’s Isaiah, 115–116.
3 The Second Comforter, 67.
4 WJS, 77; DHC 4:424.
5 TPJS, 189; WJS, 73–74; DHC 4:359.
6 TPJS, 308; WJS, 212; DHC 5:423.
7 For additional insight on how the saints fell short in their attempt to become “Saviors upon Mount Zion,” see “How To Fail,” Feb. 17, 2016, blog post.