(Isa. 11:12; refer in Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Bassett to, 2 Ne. 6:10–11 & 2 Ne. 30:7 & 3 Ne. 20:13, 29–33)
Here is a declaration that the two great kingdoms of Israel—its “out-casts,” the ten tribes, scattered seven hundred and twenty years before Christ, and the “dispersed of Judah,” dispersed among all nations, shall be gathered. But before he gathers them he will set up an ensign—an ensign is to be raised in the latter-days especially for the gathering of Israel… . The Lord has never said that he will lift it up before the time comes to gather Israel… . He must begin it among the Gentiles, … as Isaiah tells us in the 49th chapter— a standard or ensign, to which the people will gather, will be reared among the Gentiles. Recollect this is something to be commenced among the Gentiles, not among the Jewish nation, not away yonder in Palestine or Jerusalem.
(Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, 14:66–67.)
The Jews have got to gather to their own land in unbelief. They will go and rebuild Jerusalem and their temple… . When they have done this and rebuilt their city, the Gentiles, in fulfillment of the words of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and other prophets, will go up against Jerusalem to battle and to take a spoil and a prey; and then, when they have taken one-half of Jerusalem captive and distressed the Jews for the last time on the earth, their Great Deliverer, Shiloh, will come. They do not believe in Jesus of Nazareth now, nor ever will, until he comes and sets his foot on Mount Olivet and it cleaves in twain, one part going towards the east, and the other towards the west. Then, when they behold the wounds in his hands and in his feet, they will say, “Where did you get them?” And he will reply, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, your Shiloh, Him whom you crucified.” Then, for the first time will the eyes of Judah be opened. They will remain in unbelief until that day.
(Wilford Woodruff, The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, ed. G. Homer Durham, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946], 118–119.)
We are all Gentiles by nationality, we are of the Gentile nations who hold the sway of the earth. Not only will the Jews have blessings again, but these poor despised Indians will enjoy the light and glory of the gospel of Christ; their fathers proclaimed blessings upon them, by the spirit of prophecy and revelation … A remnant of them will embrace the gospel, and their eyes will be opened and they will understand that they are of Israel. Our missionaries have labored among them, and what effect has it had? But little …
We cannot do a great deal for that people, only pray for them, and treat them kindly, until the power of God begins to rest upon them, and they are waked up by the visions of heaven, and the angels begin to converse with them. They will be inspired by the spirit of the power of God, like other branches of Israel, and the day will come when the … tribes in these mountains will again feel they possess souls among men as their fathers did before them. The ten tribes will also come in remembrance before the Lord, and they will again return with outstretched arms to their lands, and be led by leaders inspired by the Spirit and power of God, and they will come with visions, revelations, and prophets, and they will be baptized and ordained under the hands of the children of Ephraim, who bear the Holy Priesthood.
(Wilford Woodruff, The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, ed. G. Homer Durham, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946], 119–20.)