My wife and I were living in the East during the construction of the Washington D.C. Temple. After that magnificent six-spired edifice was completed, we went one day to the top of the Washington Monument to enjoy the panoramic view. From that high perspective, we could view the great “temples of constitutional government”—the Lincoln Memorial to the west, the Jefferson Monument to the south, and the U.S. Capitol to the east. However, we were thrilled to view another imposing edifice to the north. It was the noble temple of the Lord rising against the horizon—an apt reminder that the Restoration was inaugurated soon after the Lord brought about the establishment of a system of laws in America that would foster the inalienable rights and agency of man: “And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood” (D&C 101:80).
In the millennial government of the Messiah, there are to be two grand centers of gathering: the New Jerusalem on the American continent and the Old Jerusalem (as renewed) in the Holy Land. Isaiah makes prophetic reference to this future establishment: “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3; compare Micah 4:2). It is noteworthy that this same passage is also quoted by Jacob (see 2 Nephi 12:3), for his ministry among the emigrant remnants of Israel, like that of his older brother Nephi, took place in the New World, which was ordained of God to be the gathering place for Joseph and his seed (see Ether 13:8).
The phrase “for out of Zion shall go forth the law” was explained by President Harold B. Lee as follows:
I have often wondered what the expression meant, that out of Zion shall go forth the law. Years ago I went with the brethren to the Idaho Falls Temple, and I heard in that inspired prayer of the First Presidency a definition of the meaning of that term “out of Zion shall go forth the law.” Note what they said: “We thank thee that thou hast revealed to us that those who gave us our constitutional form of government were men wise in thy sight and that thou didst raise them up for the very purpose of putting forth that sacred document [as revealed in Doctrine and Covenants section 101]… . We pray that kings and rulers and the peoples of all nations under heaven may be persuaded of the blessings enjoyed by the people of this land by reason of their freedom and under thy guidance and be constrained to adopt similar governmental systems, thus to fulfill the ancient prophecy of Isaiah and Micah that … ‘out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem’” (Improvement Era, October 1945, 564.)” (Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998], 27)
Isaiah must have foreseen the day when a great Gentile nation would arise based on laws that were consonant with celestial principles—a seedbed for the Restoration and the establishment of Zion and the New Jerusalem. Hence the phrase: “out of Zion shall go forth the law.” From Jerusalem, the birthplace of the Savior, the eternal influence of the Word of God would flow forever. Such might be the inference of the phrase “and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” In the confluence of the two—the everlasting principles of celestial law and the redeeming word of truth—are met all of the essential powers and precepts leading to immortality and eternal life. (Richard J. Allen)