Is the New Jerusalem Really in Missouri? A Latter-day Saint Case for Salt Lake City

This article is a written summary of a Stick of Joseph discussion featuring Hayden Paul, Jay Davis, and Jonah Barnes about one of the most interesting questions in Latter-day Saint prophecy: Where will the New Jerusalem be built? Latter-day Saints have traditionally associated the New Jerusalem with Jackson County, Missouri, but the speakers examine the Doctrine and Covenants, Isaiah, Ether, Joseph Smith’s teachings, and the history of the gathering of Israel to ask whether the scriptural picture may be broader than many Saints assume.

TL;DR: Is the New Jerusalem in Missouri or Salt Lake City?

The video does not deny the prophetic importance of Jackson County, Missouri, but it challenges the assumption that the New Jerusalem must be understood exclusively as one future city built on one specific piece of land. The speakers argue that scripture repeatedly connects Zion and the New Jerusalem with two central elements: the gathering of God’s covenant people and the building of temples. Missouri was an early gathering place, Nauvoo became another, and Salt Lake City eventually became the great center of Latter-day Saint gathering in the Rocky Mountains. The larger possibility explored in the video is that Zion is an expanding work that can ultimately fill the earth as temples, stakes, and covenant communities spread throughout the world.

Watch the Stick of Joseph Discussion About the New Jerusalem

Why Do Latter-day Saints Believe the New Jerusalem Is in Missouri?

The traditional Latter-day Saint association between the New Jerusalem and Jackson County, Missouri comes primarily from early revelations received through Joseph Smith.

Doctrine and Covenants 84 describes the gathering of the Saints to Mount Zion, “which shall be the city New Jerusalem,” and identifies a temple lot in the western boundaries of Missouri that had been dedicated by Joseph Smith and other Church leaders.

The revelation says:

“The city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple.”

This language has naturally led generations of Latter-day Saints to understand Independence, Missouri, as the future location of the New Jerusalem.

But the Stick of Joseph discussion asks readers to examine the entire passage more carefully.

Does Doctrine and Covenants 84 Emphasize Missouri or the Temple?

One of the central observations in the video is how heavily Doctrine and Covenants 84 emphasizes the temple.

The revelation does identify the Missouri temple lot, but it repeatedly connects the New Jerusalem with:

• The gathering of the Saints
• The building of a temple
• The presence and glory of God
• A covenant people gathered to Him

The speakers therefore ask whether the geographical location itself is the central point of the prophecy or whether Missouri represented the place where a larger process was supposed to begin.

What Does “Beginning at This Place” Mean?

An important part of the discussion centers on the phrase “beginning at this place.”

The conventional interpretation is geographical: construction of the New Jerusalem would begin at the Missouri temple lot and expand outward.

But the video explores another possibility. “Beginning” can also describe the beginning of a process in time. In that reading, Missouri could have represented the beginning of the Saints’ attempt to establish Zion without requiring every later fulfillment to remain geographically centered there.

The speakers acknowledge that this interpretation is speculative. However, it becomes more interesting when Doctrine and Covenants 84 is read alongside later revelations about what happened after the Saints were violently driven from Missouri.

Doctrine and Covenants 124: Did the Lord Release the Saints From the Missouri Commandment?

One of the strongest scriptural arguments discussed in the video comes from Doctrine and Covenants 124.

The Lord explains that when He commands His people to perform a work, and they sincerely attempt to accomplish it but are prevented by their enemies, He can accept their offering and no longer require the work from them.

The revelation specifically applies this principle to the Saints who had been commanded to build a city and temple in Jackson County, Missouri.

The Lord says He had accepted the offerings of those who attempted to perform the work but were hindered by their enemies.

The Lord Then Commands a Temple in Nauvoo

Immediately afterward, the Saints receive another commandment: build a house of the Lord in Nauvoo.

This sequence is important to the video’s argument.

The Saints attempted to gather and establish a temple-centered Zion in Missouri.

They were expelled.

The Lord accepted their offering.

Then He commanded them to gather somewhere else and build another temple.

The speakers see a possible pattern:

• Gather the Saints
• Build a temple
• Create a covenant community
• If persecution prevents the work, move and continue building Zion elsewhere

Under this interpretation, the deeper divine priority is not simply holding one piece of geography. It is creating a people centered on the house of the Lord.

Was Nauvoo Another Attempt to Build Zion?

After Missouri, the Saints gathered in Nauvoo, Illinois.

There they constructed a temple, gathered converts, received temple ordinances, and attempted to establish a thriving covenant society.

But persecution again forced them to leave.

The Nauvoo Temple was eventually damaged and destroyed, and the Saints moved west.

The video’s argument is that this history makes more sense if Zion is understood as an ongoing divine project rather than a project permanently tied to only one geographical location.

Joseph Smith and the Gathering in the Rocky Mountains

The speakers also discuss an account associated with Joseph Smith’s final public teachings in 1844, in which the Rocky Mountains are described as becoming a major gathering center for the Saints.

This becomes significant because the Latter-day Saints eventually did exactly that.

Beginning in 1847, converts from many nations gathered to the Great Basin. Salt Lake City became the administrative and spiritual center of the Church, temples were constructed throughout the region, and communities of Saints spread across the Mountain West.

For much of the nineteenth century, converts were explicitly encouraged to physically gather to Zion.

The speakers therefore ask an intriguing question: if the gathering of the Saints is one of the defining characteristics of the New Jerusalem, what should we make of what actually happened in Utah?

Isaiah’s “Mountain of the Lord” and Salt Lake City

The discussion turns to one of the most famous latter-day prophecies in Isaiah.

Isaiah 2 declares that in the last days:

“The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains … and all nations shall flow unto it.”

People will come to the house of God to learn His ways, and Isaiah declares:

“Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

The speakers see obvious parallels with Salt Lake City and the Salt Lake Temple.

A temple was constructed in the Rocky Mountains. Latter-day Saints gathered there from nations throughout the world. For generations, the teachings of prophets and apostles have gone forth internationally from Church headquarters in Salt Lake City.

The video does not present this as definitive proof that Salt Lake City is the exclusive New Jerusalem. Instead, it asks whether Isaiah’s imagery might fit the history of the Restoration more naturally than Latter-day Saints sometimes recognize.

The Tenth Article of Faith Says the New Jerusalem Will Be on the American Continent

Another intriguing piece of evidence comes from the Tenth Article of Faith.

Joseph Smith wrote:

“We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent.”

The speakers notice what Joseph did not say.

He did not specify Jackson County in this statement. Instead, he described the New Jerusalem more broadly as being built upon the American continent.

This was written years after the early Missouri revelations.

For the hosts, that wording leaves room for a larger understanding of how Zion might develop across the continent rather than requiring the entire concept of the New Jerusalem to be restricted to Independence, Missouri.

Could Jackson County Still Be the “Center Place” of Zion?

The video does not dismiss Jackson County.

Instead, the speakers explore the possibility that Missouri can still legitimately function as a “center place” within a Zion that eventually becomes much larger.

Independence is located relatively near the geographical center of the continental United States and also near the nation’s population center.

If Zion ultimately expands across the continent, calling Missouri a “center place” may therefore carry a meaning somewhat different from saying that every aspect of the New Jerusalem must begin and remain physically confined there.

Isaiah’s Expanding Tent and the Stakes of Zion

Isaiah 54 provides another important image:

“Enlarge the place of thy tent … lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.”

The hosts connect this imagery with the Latter-day Saint concept of the stakes of Zion.

Rather than imagining Zion as a tiny city to which every believer must eventually relocate, Isaiah describes something expanding outward.

The image is of a tent growing larger and larger as its stakes extend farther into the world.

This fits remarkably well with the history of the modern Church.

The Saints initially gathered into concentrated communities. Over time, however, prophets began encouraging members to remain in their own nations and build Zion where they lived.

Today, stakes and temples exist throughout the world.

The discussion suggests that perhaps the Lord’s ultimate objective has always been much larger than establishing one holy city.

Could the Whole Earth Eventually Become the New Jerusalem?

One of the video’s most important ideas is that the New Jerusalem may represent a process as much as a place.

Temples are now being constructed throughout the earth. Stakes of Zion continue expanding. Missionaries preach the restored gospel across nations and languages. Covenant communities are being established throughout the world.

The speakers suggest that the Restoration may effectively be building “new Jerusalems” everywhere as the earth prepares for the return of Jesus Christ.

The eventual purpose may be nothing less than transforming the entire earth into a holy place prepared for the Savior’s millennial reign.

Ether 13 and Multiple New Jerusalems

The video also explores Ether 13, where Moroni summarizes Ether’s prophecies concerning Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem.

The speakers notice that the chapter appears to speak about Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem in several different settings.

There is the ancient Jerusalem, a future holy city connected with the descendants of Joseph upon the American land, and the ultimate New Jerusalem associated with the new heaven and new earth.

This leads to a broader theological point: the scriptural concept of “New Jerusalem” may be more expansive than a single city existing at one moment in history.

What Is Zion According to the Scriptures?

The discussion eventually moves beyond geography to the more important question:

What actually makes Zion Zion?

Moses 7 provides one of the clearest scriptural definitions:

“The Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind.”

This changes the focus dramatically.

Zion is not holy simply because people possess a particular piece of land.

Zion exists when God’s covenant people become:

• One in heart
• One in mind
• Righteous
• United in Jesus Christ
• Centered on covenant worship

The geography can matter, but the people matter more.

The Temple May Be More Important Than the Geography

One of the clearest themes running through the Stick of Joseph discussion is that scripture repeatedly emphasizes temples and covenant people more heavily than geography.

The Saints attempted to build in Missouri.

They were driven out.

They built in Nauvoo.

They were driven out again.

They went west.

They built temples.

Then they spread throughout the world and continued building temples.

Viewed this way, the Restoration becomes the story of God continually creating holy places wherever His people are able to gather, make covenants, worship, and establish Zion.

Dead Sea Scrolls and a Future Temple-Centered City

The most speculative section of the video explores ancient descriptions of a future holy city found among material associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The discussion references research comparing descriptions of a future temple-centered city with Salt Lake City.

Several proposed parallels are highlighted:

• A city built in a previously undeveloped location
• A grid or checkerboard street system
• A city organized around a central sanctuary or temple
• Extremely wide streets
• Large pedestrian areas
• An unusually large metropolitan footprint
• Religious leadership connected with groups of twelve and three

The speakers find these parallels fascinating, particularly because nineteenth-century Salt Lake City was famously constructed around a temple-centered grid with unusually wide streets.

However, this portion of the discussion is presented as an interesting theory rather than established Church doctrine.

Why Utah and Jerusalem Have Surprisingly Similar Geography

The video also discusses geographical similarities between Utah and the Holy Land.

Both regions contain:

• A large saltwater lake
• A freshwater lake
• A river called the Jordan connecting the two
• Mountain and desert landscapes

The hosts reference comparisons that have described Utah and the Holy Land as remarkable geographical counterparts.

They treat these similarities as intriguing rather than definitive evidence, but within the broader discussion they add another interesting dimension to the idea of Salt Lake City as a latter-day gathering center.

Doctrine and Covenants 45: A New Jerusalem of Peace and Safety

Toward the end of the episode, the discussion turns to Doctrine and Covenants 45.

The revelation describes the New Jerusalem as:

“A land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High God.”

It describes people gathering there from every nation while the surrounding world experiences conflict.

This reinforces one of the central ideas of the episode: Zion is fundamentally a covenant society characterized by peace, safety, holiness, and unity.

Could Zion Be Built Before People Realize What Is Happening?

Doctrine and Covenants 45 also contains unusual language instructing the Saints to keep certain things from going abroad until the Lord determines that the time is right, allowing the work to be accomplished before enemies fully understand it.

Jay Davis offers a provocative interpretation: perhaps the Saints could participate in building the latter-day Zion without fully recognizing what they were accomplishing.

The hosts present this as speculation, not doctrine, but it becomes the episode’s “mic drop” idea: while generations of Latter-day Saints have looked toward a future return to Missouri, perhaps the Lord has already been expanding Zion around them.

Should Latter-day Saints Move to Missouri to Prepare for the Second Coming?

The practical conclusion of the discussion is important.

The speakers do not encourage members to uproot their families and move to Missouri—or Salt Lake City—based on private theories about the New Jerusalem.

Instead, they emphasize following living prophets.

If Church leaders someday direct the Saints to gather somewhere physically, faithful members can respond then.

Until that time, the better question is not:

“When should I move to Zion?”

It is:

“How can I build Zion where I am?”

The New Jerusalem May Be Bigger Than One City

The most compelling takeaway from the episode is not that Salt Lake City has definitively replaced Jackson County, Missouri.

Rather, it is that the scriptural concept of the New Jerusalem may be much bigger than a debate between Missouri and Utah.

The pattern found throughout Restoration history is one of continual expansion:

• Jackson County
• Kirtland
• Nauvoo
• The Rocky Mountains
• Stakes throughout North America
• Temples and covenant communities throughout the world

Isaiah describes the tent expanding.

Modern revelation describes stakes of Zion.

The Book of Mormon anticipates a holy city upon the American continent.

And modern prophets have overseen the construction of temples throughout the earth.

Building Zion Is Ultimately About Becoming One in Jesus Christ

Whatever role Independence, Missouri, Salt Lake City, or other locations ultimately play in latter-day prophecy, the scriptures make one principle unmistakable: Zion must first exist in the hearts of God’s people.

Enoch’s people were called Zion because they were of one heart and one mind.

The Restoration is preparing the earth for Jesus Christ not simply by acquiring land, but by gathering Israel, building temples, making covenants, preaching the gospel, and creating communities centered on Christ.

That makes the question of the New Jerusalem deeply personal.

The most important preparation for Zion is not packing a moving truck for Missouri.

It is becoming the kind of disciple who can help build a society of holiness, peace, unity, and covenant faithfulness wherever the Lord places us.

Seen this way, the building of the New Jerusalem may already be underway as temples and stakes of Zion continue to spread throughout the world in preparation for the return of Jesus Christ.