Elijah ministered upon the earth at least twice after this prophetic utterance. At Christ's transfiguration, he appeared on the Mount to Peter, James and John. (See Matt. 17:3.)
He also appeared at the Kirtland Temple April 3, 1836. On that occasion, Elijah said:"The keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors." (D&C 110:16.)
Presenting a paper at the 1986 Sperry Symposium at BYU, Richard O. Cowan said: "Elijah's latter-day return marked the climax of an unusually rich season of spiritual outpouring at the time the Kirtland Temple was completed.
"Just one week following the temple's dedication, the Savior Himself appeared and accepted His house. Moses, Elias, and Elijah . . . now resurrected beings, also came and bestowed keys of authority, much as had been done on the Mount of Transfiguration."
Brother Cowan further said: "There is significance in the specific day when these messengers appeared. The third day of April in 1836 was Easter Sunday. . . . This same weekend was the Passover. For centuries, Jewish families had placed an empty chair at their Passover feasts, believing that Elijah's prophesied return would occur at that season."
