Line upon Line

When we enter a chapel on Sunday morning, with the reverent music, respectful clothing, and cheerful but hushed greetings, we sense that it is a holy place. Yet, a scene from the Book of Isaiah can help us to see it with new eyes: as a place where we come before God, confess our need for cleansing, and renew our covenant to serve Him.

The book of Isaiah is one of the Bible’s most beautiful and challenging books. Yet the Savior directly commanded: “Search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah” (3 Ne. 23:1). Fortunately, Latter-day Saints have a distinctive gift in approaching Isaiah. The Book of Mormon not only highlights large portions of his writings but also models how to read them in a way that makes them relevant and personal.

President Ezra Taft Benson taught that the Book of Mormon “was written for our day” and encouraged readers to ask why its prophets included particular teachings and what lesson they offer us now. He counseled, “We should constantly ask ourselves, ‘Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?'”¹

These questions are especially relevant to Isaiah. While Isaiah was originally written for the ancient Israelites, since large portions of the book are quoted in the Book of Mormon, these writings are clearly intended for us as well. So, as we study Isaiah, we can follow the lead of Nephi, who read Isaiah to his brothers hoping to “more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer.” In doing so, he “did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning” (1 Nephi 19:23).

One passage especially invites modern reflection: Isaiah’s vision of his prophetic call. It is a dramatic vision that includes an earthquake, smoke, a six-winged angel who touches Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal, and God Himself sitting on a high throne wearing flowing robes that fill the whole temple. While the imagery may seem foreign, the symbolism speaks directly to latter-day disciples seeking purification and covenant renewal.

We know it must be important for our time since it appears in both Isaiah chapter 6, and 2 Nephi 16. Perhaps the fact that this chapter of Isaiah appears in the Book of Mormon is evidence that this vision of Isaiah is not just a recounting of the call of a prophet but is meant specifically to help modern-day members of the Church to better understand the way in which each of us can come unto God and become witnesses of Jesus Christ.

We read in Isaiah, chapter 6:

1 . . . I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

2 Above [the throne] stood the seraphims [or angels] . ..

3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 ¶ Then [Isaiah] said . . ., Woe is me! for I am undone [or in Hebrew, “I am ruined”]; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

As Isaiah beheld the Lord on His throne in the temple, surrounded by heavenly beings, he was overwhelmed by his own uncleanness. His response may bring to mind Alma’s later image of humanity standing before God with “a bright recollection of all [our] guilt” (Alma 11:43). Isaiah speaks elsewhere of people fleeing into “holes of the rocks” and “caves of the earth” because of “the fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty” (Isa. 2:10, 19, 21; compare 2 Ne. 12:10, 19, 21).

Alma’s description of the unrepentant may echo Isaiah’s imagery of fearful exposure before God’s majesty:

For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to chide us from his presence.

(Alma 12:14)

So, here was Isaiah, standing in the temple, before the altar where blood sacrifices were made to atone for the sins of the people (Lev. 17:11). Isaiah’s confession expresses the broken heart and contrite spirit of one who recognizes his uncleanness before God. Of course, Christ would later state:

I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.  And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

(3 Ne. 9:19-20.)

As Isaiah stands before the altar of the burnt sacrifice, the scripture says:

6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. (Isaiah 6:6-7)

The Hebrew word seraph (plural seraphim) is also used for the “fiery serpents” sent among Israel in the wilderness (Num. 21:6; see also Deut. 8:15). To save the people, the Lord told Moses to make a saraph, often rendered “fiery serpent,” and place it on a pole (Num. 21:8).²

In Isaiah 14:29 and 30:6, the term appears in the expression “fiery flying serpent.” Scholars often understand these winged heavenly beings as fiery, serpent-like figures associated with purification and healing, though Isaiah 6 does not explicitly describe them as serpents. Nephi’s phrase “fiery flying serpents” in 1 Nephi 17:41 combines the wilderness account of the fiery serpents in Numbers 21 with language found in Isaiah 14:29 and 30:6. The shared vocabulary also invites us to notice the larger biblical association of seraphim, fiery serpents, flight, purification, and healing.³

Isaiah’s vision takes place in the temple. In verse one of chapter six, Isaiah sees the Lord sitting on a throne with his robe filling the temple. If we are to draw a parallel between Isaiah’s story and ours, we might also begin in a modern temple, the house of the Lord. Yet Isaiah’s vision can also illuminate our weekly worship if we see a symbolic parallel between the ancient temple and the modern chapel. This too is a holy place.

In fact, there have been occasions when local meetinghouses, for a limited time, have functioned as extensions of the temple as members participated remotely in another temple’s dedicatory services.⁴

A chapel is not only holy when acting as an extension of the temple. It is often remarked that one of the most spiritual meetings in the church is a funeral service. A special feeling of reverence comes over the congregation as they stand for the coffin as it is brought to the front of the chapel.

Consider how different our sacrament meetings might be if we entered the chapel and conducted ourselves therein as if we were entering the temple. Consider how meaningful our contemplation of the sacrament might be if, as with the solemnity of a funeral, we remembered the death and sacrifice of the Savior as his body and blood were symbolically set before us at the front of the chapel. As we recall His life and sacrifice, we might imagine how sad we were to part with Him before we came to Earth, and the joy we will feel to someday be reunited.

Our chapels are not temples, yet they are consecrated places of worship. Week by week, the sacrament meeting invites us to approach the Savior with reverence. At the sacrament table we remember not only that Christ died for us, but also that He lives, that His Atonement can cleanse us, and that through Him we can be reunited with God.

The parallels are striking:

• Instead of hot coals from the sacrificial lamb, bread and water are placed on the table to symbolize the great last sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
• Instead of angels, deacons stand ready to lift the emblems and carry them to the congregation.
• Instead of tongs bearing fire, trays bear symbols of the Lamb of God.
• Instead of Isaiah’s lips touched by a coal, our lips receive the emblems of Christ’s body and blood.

As we partake with repentance and faith, our sins can be purged, but not by the fire of the hot coals of Isaiah’s vision, but by the baptism of fire that is promised to those who keep their sacramental covenants.

Isaiah’s experience did not end with purification. Once cleansed, he heard the Lord ask:

“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

And he answered, “Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8).

Ancient readers would have recognized this response from Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Samuel, each answering God’s call with “Here am I.” (Gen. 22:1, 11; 31:11; 46:2; Ex. 3:4; 1 Sam. 3:4–10.) Latter-day Saints hear an echo of the premortal council, where Christ Himself said, “Here am I, send me” (Abraham 3:27).

Each week, as the bread and water touch our lips, we can remember Isaiah’s vision. We come before the Lord with broken hearts and contrite spirits, conscious of our need for the cleansing made possible through the Lamb of God. The symbols of that sacrifice, like hot coals from the ancient altar, are lifted from the table and placed on our lips as we look forward to a purging of our sins. Isaiah’s lips were cleansed so he could speak for God; our lips receive the emblems so we can take His name upon us and speak and act in His service. As we partake with repentance and faith, we renew our covenant to take Christ’s name upon us, always remember Him, and keep His commandments. The promised blessing is that we may “always have his Spirit to be with” us (D&C 20:77).

Each week, as we partake of the sacrament, we can listen for the Lord’s quiet question: “Whom shall I send?” We can answer with Isaiah, “Here am I; send me.”