The following are some of Joseph Smith's "Revelations" on the subject of the temple, extracted from the "Times and Seasons" for June 1, 1841.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, let all my saints come from afar, and send ye swift messengers, yea, chosen messengers, and say unto them, Come ye with all your gold, and your silver, and your precious stones, and with all your antiquities; and all who have knowledge of antiquities that will come, may come; and bring the box-tree, and the fir-tree, and the pine-tree, together with all the precious trees of the earth; and with iron, and with copper, and with brass, and with zinc, and with all your precious things of the earth; and build a house to my name, for the Most High to dwell therein: for there is not a place found upon earth, that he may come and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which he hath taken away, even the fulness of the priesthood.
"* * * And again, verily, I say unto you, how shall your washings be acceptable unto me, except ye perform them in a house which you have built to my name? For this cause, I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid from before the world was. * * * *
"And verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people; for I design to reveal unto my church things which have been kept hid from the foundation of the world; things that pertain to the dispensation of the fulness of times. And I will show unto my servant Joseph, all things pertaining to this house, and the priesthood thereof, and the place whereon it shall be built. * * * * And it shall come to pass, that if you build a house unto my name, and do not the things that I say, I will not perform the oath which I make unto you; neither fulfil the promises which ye expect at my hands, saith the Lord: for instead of blessings, ye by your own works, bring cursings, wrath, indignation, and judgment upon your own heads by your follies, and by all your abominations which you practise before me, saith the Lord."
Page 12. "In Palestine, &c."
The following is from the 'Times and Seasons' for April 1st, 1842.
"Another letter has just come to hand from Elder Hyde, dated Jaffa, Oct. He was then on his way to Jerusalem, the date being much earlier than the one inserted in another page. We have only room for the following extract, which we publish as among the most extraordinary signs of the times. 'On my passage from Beyroot to this place (Jaffa) the night before last, at one o'clock, as I was meditating on the deck of the vessel as she was beating down against a sultry wind, a very bright glittering sword appeared in the heavens, with a beautiful hilt, as plain and complete as any cut you ever saw. And what is still more remarkable, an arm with a perfect hand, stretched itself out and took hold of the hilt of the sword. The appearance really made my hair rise, and my flesh, as it were, crawl on my bones. The Arabs made a wonderful outcry at the sight. Oh, Allah! Allah! was their exclamation all over the vessel. I mention this, because you know there is a commandment of God for me, which says, 'Unto you it shall be given to know the signs of the times, and the sign of the coming of the Son of man.'
Yours, in Christ,
Orson Hyde."
The following is a further extract from the "Revelation" of January 19, 1841, quoted above.