"Malachi preserved for us the promise that the Lord would suddenly come to his temple in the last days prior to the great and dreadful day of the Lord, an event which actually took place, as far as the Kirtland Temple is concerned, on the 3rd of April in 1836. (Mal. 3:1; D&C 110:1-10.) This is one of those prophetic utterances destined for dual fulfillment, however, and the Lord yet again shall come suddenly to others of His temples, including the great temple to be erected in Jackson County," wrote Bruce R. McConkie in Mormon Doctrine, p. 723.
In Doctrines of Salvation 2:244, Joseph Fielding Smith noted: "That temples and temple ordinances are essential to the Christian faith is well established in the Bible. Malachi predicted the coming of the Lord suddenly to His temple, in the day of vengeance, in the latter times, as a refiner and purifier."Ezekiel predicted the building of a temple in Jerusalem which will be used for ordinance work after the gathering of Israel from their long dispersion and when they are cleansed from their transgressions. John the Revelator saw the day when, after the earth is sanctified and celestialized, the presence of the Father and the Son in the New Jerusalem would take the place of the temple, for the whole city, due to their presence, would become a temple."
