After the Kirtland Temple was dedicated, three ancient prophets appeared and restored priesthood keys to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.
Moses restored the keys of the "gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north." (D&C 110:11.)2. Elias, who held the keys of the gospel in the days of Abraham, conferred the keys of his dispensation. (D&C 110:12.) The blessings include eternal marriage vows with promises of eternal posterity and family relationships.
Elijah restored the keys of the sealing power. (D&C 110:13-15.) Joseph Fielding Smith said: "That sealing power puts the stamp of approval upon every ordinance that is done in this Church and more particularly those that are performed in the temples of the Lord. Through that restoration each of you . . . has the privilege of going into this house or one of the other temples to have your wife sealed to you for time and all eternity, and your children sealed to you also, or better, have them born under that covenant. What a glorious privilege it is to know that the family organization will remain intact. . . . We may go into the house of the Lord and do these things and be baptized for our dead, those who have died, the scriptures say . . . who died without the knowledge of the gospel." (April 1948 conference report, cited by Daniel H. Ludlow in A Companion to Your Study of the Doctrine and Covenants.)
