Among the writings of Isaiah that Nephi quoted is this passage which, as given in Nephi's account, reads:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.
"And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (2 Nephi 12:2-3.)
Among the Latter-day Saints, the establishment of the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Mountain West is widely understood to be in fulfillment of these verses from Isaiah.
In ancient times, it was common for a prophet to go to the top of a mountain to commune with the Lord God. Thus, the term "mountain of the Lord" symbolically denotes any location where the Lord makes His divine will known to His holy prophets.
The Salt Lake Temple has been called the "mountain of the Lord" because revelation so often has been received there by the prophets of God. For example, the 1978 revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy male members was received by President Spencer W. Kimball and confirmed and ratified by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve in the Salt Lake Temple. (See "Revelation rewarded those who waited," Church News, Dec. 18, 1999, pp. 4-5.)
One of the early pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley who had been an associate of Joseph Smith, Joel Hills Johnson, wrote what has become one of the most loved LDS hymns, "High on the Mountain Top" (Hymns, No. 5). It draws a connection between the above passage from Isaiah and the establishment of the Church headquarters in "the top of the mountains" to which people from "all nations" would gather. It also alludes to the passage from Isaiah quoted in 2 Nephi 15:26, which says that the Lord will "lift up an ensign to the nations" and "they shall come with speed swiftly." The third and fourth verses of the hymn make reference to the building of a temple at the headquarters in the top of the mountains:
His house shall there be reared,
His glory to display,
And people shall be heard in distant lands to say:
We'll now go up and serve the Lord,
Obey his truth and learn his word.
For there we shall be taught
The law that will go forth,
With truth and wisdom fraught,
To govern all the earth.
Forever there his ways we'll tread,
And save ourselves with all our dead.
