Hugh Nibley
“Another image of great importance in the Book of Mormon is treasure. The Book of Mormon has much to say about earthly and heavenly treasures, in the same sense in which the newly found apocrypha do. Of course the image is also found in the New Testament. The Book of Mormon prophets explain many references to heavenly treasures in the Bible. Helaman is fondest of treasures. ’And even at this time, instead of laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt, … ye are heaping up for yourselves wrath against the day of judgment’ (Helaman 8:25). This is the correct concept of what is meant by a treasure; it is a very common idea in the early apocrypha. We find in the many treasure passages that the treasure is the wisdom and knowledge we left behind us when we came down to this earth. In the premortal existence, we left our treasure in God’s treasury, in his keeping. There it is, and by our good works here we can add to it; more will be waiting for us when we go back. So let us not try to pile up wealth and possessions on earth. They’re not going to do us any good; we can’t take them back there. Let us lay up our treasures there — add to our treasure store. We really do have one there, because we had one before we came. We left it behind, and we’re going back to it. It’s a very vivid concept, and basic to it is the doctrine of the premortal existence. There’s a great treasury in heaven which contains all good things; it is to share in this treasury that all seek. But in the Jewish apocrypha, in the Wisdom of Ben Sira, God orders, by his word, the lights in the heavenly height, and by the utterance of his mouth he opens the treasury, where the righteous have a store of good works preserved. These are good works preserved, already done. And they’re being preserved; everything we add to our credit is being preserved in God’s treasury.” (Temple and Cosmos, p. 232-3)