Again, in the King James text, there are several insignificant words that do not appear, or words that are italicized.
The beautiful and glorious “ branch of the Lord” is the Church of Jesus Christ. It will not become beautiful and glorious until after it is cleansed (v. 4). The Church will be in both Zion and Jerusalem, but will be smaller because of the cleansing (v. 3). The Lord revealed that “upon my house shall [the cleansing] begin, and from my house it go forth” (D&C 112:25). General Moroni also taught “that God had said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also” (Alma 60:23). The spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning may refer to the destruction of the wicked as the time of the Second Coming approaches. Mormon declared: “it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished” (Mormon 4:5). The battle of Armageddon in Jerusalem (see Joel 3; Revelation 16:16), and the polarization of the righteous and the wicked in Zion will bring about the destruction. The latter is described below.