Reference: This verse clearly echoes Matthew 16:18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Both versions have three essential elements: a rock, something that is being built, and the gates of hell. In Matthew, however, the most obvious referent for “rock” is Peter, while in the Book of Mormon, the “rock” is the gospel. The difference is not as great as it might appear, for the verse in Matthew is actually built upon the preceding passage:
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (Matt. 16:13–17)
Here, the thing being built is the church and kingdom, and their foundation is the revelation that Jesus is the Messiah. In the Book of Mormon, the church and kingdom are likewise built on the revealed doctrine of the Messiah.
Alan Hugh M’Neile, fellow, dean, and theological lecturer at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, explains: “In this case the words are addressed to Peter as an individual, not as bishop of Rome.… It would be more natural if the Lord were speaking of him in the third person to the other disciples. Nor is it more natural if the ‘rock’ is Jesus Himself. The reference is probably to the truth which the apostle had proclaimed; the fact of the Lord’s Messiahship was to be the immovable bed-rock on which his ‘ecclesia’ [church] would stand secure.
The reference in this verse to the “gates of hell” is certainly well-known in the Old World, but less so in the New. The gates of hell are the gates that hold the deceased in the land of the dead. It is currently popular to read the “gates of hell” as a metaphor for Satan and that Satan is attacking with temptations; but this modern reading misunderstands the context. The “gates of hell” are objects in a particular location. They do not attack. Rather, Christ attacks them by his atonement and resurrection, and they cannot withstand it. The apocryphal book of Nicodemus has a wonderful and imaginative description of Christ storming the gates of hell:
And while Satan and the prince of hell were discoursing thus to each other, on a sudden there was a voice as of thunder and the rushing of winds, saying, “Lift up your gates, O ye princes; and be ye lift up, O everlasting gates, and the King of Glory shall come in.”
When the prince of hell heard this, he said to Satan, Depart from me, and begone out of my habitations; if thou art a powerful warrior, fight with the King of Glory. But what hast thou to do with him? And he cast him forth from his habitations.
And the prince said to his impious officers, Shut the brass gates of cruelty, and make them fast with iron bars, and fight courageously, lest we be taken captives. But when all the company of the saints heard this they spake with a loud voice of anger to the prince of hell: Open thy gates that the King of Glory may come in.
And the divine prophet David, cried out saying, “Did not I when on earth truly prophesy and say, O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. He hath taken them because of their iniquity, and because of their unrighteousness they are afflicted.
After this another prophet, namely, holy Isaiah, spake in like manner to all the saints, did not I rightly prophesy to you when I was alive on earth? The dead men shall live, and they shall rise again who are in their graves, and they shall rejoice who are in earth; for the dew which is from the Lord shall bring deliverance to them. And I said in another place, O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?
When all the saints heard these things spoken by Isaiah, they said to the prince of hell, Open now thy gates, and take away thine iron bars; for thou wilt now be bound, and have no power. Then there was a great voice, as of the sound of thunder saying, Lift up your gates, O princes; and be ye lifted up, ye gates of hell, and the King of Glory will enter in.
The prince of hell perceiving the same voice repeated, cried out as though he had been ignorant, Who is that King of Glory?
David replied to the prince of hell, and said, I understand the words of that voice, because I spake them by his spirit. And now, as I have above said, I say unto thee, the Lord strong and powerful, the Lord mighty in battle: he is the King of Glory, and he is the Lord in heaven and in earth; He hath looked down to hear the groans of the prisoners, and to set loose those that are appointed to death. And now, thou filthy and stinking prince of hell, open thy gates, that the King of Glory may enter in; for he is the Lord of heaven and earth.
While David was saying this, the mighty Lord appeared in the form of a man, and enlightened those places which had ever before been in darkness, And broke asunder the fetters which before could not be broken; and with his invincible power visited those who sat in the deep darkness by iniquity, and the shadow of death by sin.
While imaginative, these verses nevertheless portray the more accurate meaning—that the gates of hell were unable to withstand the Savior’s coming.