Nephi began again to write some of Isaiah’s prophecies in order to lift the spirits of his people. The “word” (Hebrew ha davar) may also be translated as “thing” or “message.” “Saw” (Hebrew khazah) means “envisioned.” Isaiah’s father, whose name is anglicized in the King James Version as Amoz, is not the same person as the prophet Amos, Isaiah’s contemporary.
Isaiah received the word concerning Jerusalem and Judah, though his focus is Jerusalem. “And it shall come to pass in the last days …” indicates dual fulfillment.
In verse 2 the italicized “that” in the King James Version is rendered “when” in the Book of Mormon, which more properly fits the context of the previous phrase. The word “mountain” is both a literal and figurative reference to the temple of God. The mountain-temple connection in ancient Israel is well established. A common name for the temple at Jerusalem was har ha-bayit, “mountain of the house.” Regarding the mountain abode of God and its relationship to the temple, see Psalm 68:16; Isaiah 8:18; Doctrine and Covenants 84:2–4; 133:12–13. Mountains were among God’s first temples.
Isaiah’s prophecies often focus on the place where God chose to put his name—that is, the temple (1 Kings 8:29; 9:3; 2 Kings 21:4; compare D&C 97:15; 109:26). The prophet saw the latter-day temple, the “mountain of the Lord’s house.”
The Prophet Joseph Smith asked: “What was the object of gathering the Jews, or the people of God in any age of the world? … The main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house and the glories of His kingdom, and teach the people the way of salvation; for there are certain ordinances and principles that, when they are taught and practiced, must be done in a place or house built for that purpose.” 30
This passage can have multiple meanings:
1. The Salt Lake Temple in the Rocky Mountains. President Wilford Woodruff mentioned this Isaiah passage in the prayer dedicating the Salt Lake Temple 31
2. The New Jerusalem Temple in Independence, Missouri (D&C 57 headnote and verses 1–3)
3. The Old Jerusalem Temple (D&C 133:12–13)
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote: “Thus Israel gathers for the purpose of building temples in which the ordinances of salvation and exaltation are performed for the living and the dead. And thus it comes as no surprise to find the ancient prophets speaking of the temples of the Most High and doing it in the setting of the gathering of Israel. ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days,’ saith Isaiah, ‘that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.’ This has specific reference to the Salt Lake Temple and to the other temples built in the top of the Rocky Mountains, and it has a general reference to the temple yet to be built in the New Jerusalem in Jackson County, Missouri. Those in all nations, be it noted, shall flow to the houses of the Lord in the tops of the mountains, there to make the covenants out of which eternal life comes.” 32
Mountain may also mean meeting place as well as holy place.Compare Nephi’s experience in the mountain, where the Lord showed him “great things” (1 Nephi 18:3). In a metaphorical sense, mountain may also mean nation or people (see commentary at 2 Nephi 12:12–18). An alternate translation of verse 2 may then be “when the nation of the Lord’s house shall be established as the head of the nations.”
“All nations” shall flow unto it: that is, many people from all nations. The Lord’s house will be a means of unifying the peoples of the earth. In his house “all nations” may learn the mysteries of his kingdom.