KnoWhy #348 - How Do the Bible and Book of Mormon Help Us Understand the Sealing Power? (3 Nephi 25:5-6, Malachi 4:5-6)

The power to seal marriages and perform other ordinances that would be recognized, or remain in force, “in and after the resurrection from the dead” was conferred through the visitation of Elijah in the Kirtland Temple on April 3, 1836 (Doctrine and Covenants 110:13–16). Joseph had been previously instructed multiples times by heavenly beings regarding Elijah’s essential mission to restore these priesthood keys in this final dispensation. He would also have encountered the importance of the coming of Elijah in the Book of Mormon as he translated passages such as 3 Nephi 25:5–6. It is important for modern readers to recognize the influence of the Old Testament story of the prophet Elijah on the Book of Mormon narrative. The memory of Elijah receiving the keys to seal up the heavens and to bring the living back from the dead reverberated throughout scriptural history.