(Isa. 4:5–6; D&C 45:64–75; 97:21; 115:6; 124:36; refer in this text to 2 Ne. 12:32; 2 Ne. 20:24–25)
The time is soon coming, when no man will have any peace but in Zion and her stakes. I saw men hunting the lives of their own sons, and brother murdering brother, women killing their own daughters, and daughters seeking the lives of their mothers. I saw armies arrayed against armies. I saw blood, desolation, fires. The Son of Man has said that the mother shall be against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother. These things are at our doors. They will follow the Saints of God from city to city. Satan will rage, and the spirit of the devil is now enraged.
(Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. by Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976], 161.)
The time is to come when God will meet with all the congregation of his Saints, and to show his approval, and that he does love them, he will work a miracle by covering them in the cloud of his glory. I do not mean something that is invisible, but I mean that same order of things which once existed on the earth so far as the tabernacle of Moses was concerned, which was carried in the midst of the children of Israel as they journeyed in the wilderness… .
The Lord intended his people to be covered with the cloud continually, and he intended to reveal himself unto them, and to show forth his glory more fully amongst them; but they sinned… . Because of their wickedness he withdrew his presence, and his glory in a great measure was taken from them; but still Moses was permitted to enter the tabernacle, and to behold the glory of God, and it is said that he talked with the Lord face to face—a blessing which God did intend to bestow upon all Israel had they kept his law and had not hardened their hearts against him. But in the latter days there will be a people so pure in Mount Zion, with a house established upon the tops of the mountains, that God will manifest himself, not only in their Temple and upon all their assemblies, with a visible cloud during the day, but when the night shall come, if they shall be assembled for worship, God will meet with them by his pillar of fire; and when they retire to their habitations, behold each habitation will be lighted up by the glory of God,—a pillar of flaming fire by night.
Did you ever hear of any city that was thus favored and blessed since the day that Isaiah delivered this prophecy? No, it is a latter-day work, one that God must consummate in the latter times when he begins to reveal himself, and show forth his power among the nations.
(Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, 16:82.)
It [2 Ne. 14:5] suggests the protection of Zion and her stakes in a day when the world is in turmoil. For a fuller description of that time, see Doctrine and Covenants 45:63–75 and 84:2–5; the latter of these passages identifies the cloud as “the glory of the Lord.” Note that there is more than one place for the assembly or gathering of the Saints. This is consistent with the Lord’s admonition to stand in “holy places” when bloodshed, famine, plague, and other calamities sweep the earth (see D&C 87:6–8)… .
According to Oliver Cowdery, when the angel Moroni appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith in September 1823, he quoted Isaiah 4:5–6 as one of the prophecies which was soon to be fulfilled (MA, Apr. 1835, 110). President Harold B. Lee quoted Doctrine and Covenants 115:4–6 as a prophecy of the time when members of the Church would gather to the stakes of Zion (rather than a specific place in the land of Zion) as a refuge from the storm and wrath which would be poured out upon the whole earth (see Conference Report, Apr. 1973, 5).
(Monte S. Nyman, Great Are the Words of Isaiah [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980], 38–39.)
In that glorious day when literally the whole earth will be Zion (“for this is Zion—THE PURE IN HEART” [D&C 97:21]), the Lord will shield the people from heat and storm. His protective pavilion will encompass the pure in heart in all places.
(Hoyt W. Brewster, Jr., Isaiah Plain and Simple [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1995], 39.)
In Bible times men did not build houses with the idea in mind that most of their daily living would be spent inside them. Their first interest was in spending as much time as possible in God’s out-of-doors. The house served as a place of retirement. For this reason the outside walls of the humble house were not inviting. There was no effort to attract attention to this place of retirement.
The purpose of these dwellings is borne out by the meaning of the Hebrew and Arabic words for “house.” Rev. Abraham Rihbany, who was born in Syria and spent his early life there, has made a very illuminative statement about the meaning and purpose of the Palestinian house:
The Hebrew word bavith and the Arabic word bait mean primarily a “shelter.” The English equivalent is the word “house.” The richer term, “home,” has never been invented by the son of Palestine because he has always considered himself “a sojourner in the earth.” His tent and his little house, therefore, were sufficient for a shelter for him and his dear ones during the earthly pilgrimage.
Because the Palestinians lived out-of-doors so much, the sacred writers were fond of referring to God as a “shelter” or as a “refuge,” rather than as a “home.”
(Fred H. Wight, Manners and Customs of Bible Lands [Chicago: Moody Press, 1953], 20–21.)
The salvation of the Saints one and all depends on the building up of Zion, for without this there is no salvation, for deliverance in the last days is found in Zion and in Jerusalem, and in the remnant whom the Lord our God shall call, or in other words, in the stakes which He shall appoint … It is in Zion where the Lord is to create upon every dwelling place and upon her assemblies a cloud of smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. It is upon the glory of Zion that there will be a defense. It is in Zion that there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain (Isa. 4:5, 6)… . The day of calamity draweth nigh, and unless the Saints hasten the building of the city they will not escape… .
And let not covetousness, which is idolatry, nor worldly ambition hinder you … that there may be a place of refuge for you and for your children in the day of God’s vengeance, when He shall come down on Idumea, or the world, … and none shall escape but the inhabitants of Zion… . With all the power that the Saints have, and with all the diligence they can use they will scarcely escape.
The time is not far distant when some of those who now deride and mock the Saints for devoting their all to build up the Zion of God, will bless their name for having provided a city of refuge for them and their children.
(Newel K. Whitney, Reynolds Cahoon, Vinson Knight, History of the Church, 2:516–18.)
The First Presidency has called on the parents of the Church to hold family home evening and family prayer, to study the gospel in the home, and to spend time with children in wholesome activities… .
When I was growing up, my father often led our family in gospel discussions around the dinner table. Only with the perspective of years do I understand today the contribution those family hours made to my own testimony. I rejoice in the prophecy of Isaiah that the time will come when “upon every dwelling place of mount Zion” there shall be “a cloud … by day, and … a flaming fire by night” (Isa. 4:5), when the Spirit of God will abide in the homes of His people continually.
(Bruce D. Porter, Ensign, May 2001, 81.)