seal – Page 2 – Temple Study

The Meaning of the Church of the First-Born

October 23, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 19 Comments

Truman G. Madsen

I was reading tonight a talk by Truman G. Madsen entitled, “Foundations of Temple Worship,” which he gave at a BYU-Idaho Devotional on October 26, 2004, shortly after the ordination of Elder David A. Bednar to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The talk is excellent, and highly recommended reading (or listening). There was one point in particular that caused me to have an epiphany (which is an interesting word). It was on the subject of the Church of the First-born. This is the church that exists among those who so devote themselves to lifelong faithful service in the kingdom that they receive the higher ordinances of exaltation. The Encyclopedia of Mormonism states in part: [Read more…]

The Seal of Melchizedek – Part 4

September 11, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 38 Comments

Satellite photo of the San Diego California Temple with the “Seal of Melchizedek” overlayed 13 times. I particularly like the symbol used in the skylight of the atrium in the center of the temple.

(Continued from Part 3)

To continue my research I wanted to know as accurately as possible the story about this symbol, the “seal of Melchizedek,” as it was used in the San Diego Temple. I couldn’t find a good account online, so I decided to go to the source. Who better would know than the design architect of the temple? So I gave him a call. [Read more…]

The Seal of Melchizedek – Part 3

September 10, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 9 Comments

Seal of Melchizedek turned into LDS cufflinks, tie bars/clips, tie tacs

(Continued from Part 2)

Having found the mosaics from Ravenna, Italy, that displayed this symbol in connection with Melchizedek, I wanted to do some more research to see if I could find the symbol mentioned anywhere else. And, of course, I went to the best tool for online research – Google. The difficulty with using Google is that you can usually find someone saying something about pretty much anything. So it’s not only a task of finding the correct information, but of determining its credibility.

One of the first results you come to is a blog called “Ernest Goes to Iraq” with a blog post “The Sign of Melchizedek.” Ernest explains:

I heard directly from one of the architect team partners that designed the San Diego Temple, he explained that the designer saw this symbol in a dream and based the floor plan and décor of the temple on this design; namely two offset, intersecting squares. Much like the 6-point Star of David but with 8 points instead. [Read more…]

The Seal of Melchizedek – Part 2

September 9, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 6 Comments

Detail from a mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

Detail from a 6th century mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

(Continued from Part 1)

As you might have imagined, the first thing I did when my parents told me the story of the “seal of Melchizedek” on the San Diego temple, and of the connection with Hugh Nibley, I immediately did some searches to see if I could find if it was referenced in LDS literature. The only reference I found was an image caption in the article “Sacred Vestments” in the book Temple and Cosmos:

Another Ravenna mosaic, c. A.D. 520, shows the priest-king Melchizedek in a purple cloak, offering bread and wine at the altar (Genesis 14:18-20). The white altar cloth is decorated with two sets of gammadia, as well as the so-called “seal of Melchizedek,” two interlocked squares in gold. Abel offers his lamb as Abraham gently pushes Isaac forward. The hand of God reaches down to this sacred meeting through the red veils adorned with golden gammadia on either side. The theme is the great sacrifice of Christ, which brings together the righteous prophets from the past as well as the four corners of the present world, thereby uniting all time and space. (Nibley, “Sacred Vestments,” Temple and Cosmos, 109.)

The drawing of the mosaic by Michael Lyon shown in Temple and Cosmos is from a basilica in Ravenna, Italy, called Sant’Apollinare in Classe. This is the best color photograph of this mosaic I could find: [Read more…]

The Seal of Melchizedek – Part 1

September 8, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 24 Comments

San Diego California Temple exterior (click for larger view)

A week ago my parents took a trip down to California to see my younger brother dance with the BYU Ballroom Dance Team at the Embassy Ball in Irvine, California. As part of their trip they had the chance to do some fun things, like go to Disneyland. Whenever they are on a vacation during the sabbath, however, they try to do things appropriate for that day, such as visit any nearby temples. The San Diego California Temple was only about 80 miles away, and so they made their way down I-5 last Sunday afternoon to see it.

They enjoyed their visit at this unique temple, but by and large the most interesting thing that they experienced there that day was a story that the service missionaries told them who serve there. [Read more…]