Therefore, I command you to build a house unto me, for the gathering together of my saints, that they may worship me. (D&C 115:8.)
Joseph Smith wrote that the saints in Far West, Mo., spent July 4, 1838, "in celebrating the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, and also . . . making a `Declaration of Independence' from all mobs and persecutions. . . . The cornerstones of the House of the Lord, agreeable to the commandments of the Lord upon us, given April 26, 1838, were laid. . . ."The order of the day was splendid. The procession [to the temple siteT commenced forming at 10 o'clock a.m. . . . The calvary brought up the rear of the large procession, which marched to music, and formed a circle, with the ladies in front, round the excavation."
Sidney Rigdon delivered an oration. The Prophet supervised the laying of the cornerstones of the temple. The "presidents of the stake" laid the southeast cornerstone, and the presidents of the elders, the bishop and the president of the teachers placed the other cornerstones. Each was assisted by 12 men.
The temple, wrote the Prophet Joseph, "is to be one hundred and ten feet long, and eighty feet broad." (History of the Church 3:41-42.)
