Zion, the New Jerusalem: Preparing a People and a Place for the Lord

When we speak of Zion and the New Jerusalem, we are not speaking only of a future city on a map. We are speaking of the culmination of God’s covenant work: the gathering of Israel, the sanctification of a people, and the preparation of the earth for the return of Jesus Christ.

The tenth Article of Faith declares that “Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent” and that Jesus Christ “will reign personally upon the earth.” The Book of Mormon adds that a holy city called the New Jerusalem will be established upon this land. Latter-day revelation identifies its center place as Independence in Jackson County, Missouri.

Yet Missouri alone is not the heart of the prophecy. A city can be surveyed, roads can be laid, homes can be built, and a temple can rise—but none of those things, by themselves, create Zion. Zion exists only when a people become holy enough to live there.

A Promise Given Through the Prophets

The prophecy of a latter-day New Jerusalem appears throughout restored scripture.

Ether foresaw that “a New Jerusalem” would be built upon this land for the remnant of the house of Joseph (Ether 13:3–10). After His Resurrection, Jesus told the Nephites that His covenant people would help build a city called the New Jerusalem (3 Nephi 21:22–25). Through Joseph Smith, the Lord later identified Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, as “the center place” for the city of Zion (Doctrine and Covenants 57:1–3).

This New Jerusalem is distinct from ancient Jerusalem. Both have an important place in the Lord’s latter-day work. Joseph Smith taught that Jerusalem would be rebuilt as a holy city in the Old World while the New Jerusalem would be established upon the American continent. In the Millennium, “the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2–4).

The New Jerusalem will therefore be more than a refuge. It will be a center of divine government, temple worship, revelation, peace, and instruction under the reign of Jesus Christ.

Zion Is First a People

The Lord gave the simplest definition of Zion in modern revelation: “Zion is the pure in heart” (Doctrine and Covenants 97:21).

Enoch’s people show us what that means in practice. They were “of one heart and one mind,” they lived in righteousness, and there were no poor among them (Moses 7:18–19). Their unity was not based merely on shared geography, politics, or culture. They were united in Christ. His gospel had changed their desires, their relationships, and the way they used everything God had given them.

That is why Zion cannot be produced merely through construction. The Lord declared that Zion cannot be built except according to the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom (Doctrine and Covenants 105:4–5). The future city will be holy because its people have allowed Christ to make them holy.

In that sense, it is appropriate to describe Zion as a celestial society: its people seek to live celestial laws and become pure in heart. This does not mean the earth will already have received its final celestial glory. During the Millennium, the earth will be renewed to a paradisiacal condition; its complete sanctification and celestialization come later. But the inhabitants of Zion will be learning to live now according to the laws of the kingdom they hope eventually to inherit.

A City Prepared for the Presence of Christ

Why will the New Jerusalem be built? Above all, it will be a place prepared for the Lord and for a people prepared to receive Him.

Enoch saw that in the last days the Lord would gather His elect to a holy city called Zion, “that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle” (Moses 7:60–64). The Lord also described the New Jerusalem as “a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety” and promised that His glory would be there (Doctrine and Covenants 45:64–71). A temple will stand at its center, and the Lord will manifest His presence and glory among His covenant people (Doctrine and Covenants 84:1–5).

The scriptures therefore present two connected preparations:

• A place must be prepared for the Lord.

• A people must be prepared to live in His presence.

The second is what makes the first possible. Joseph Smith taught that the Lord will not come until the things prepared for the Bridegroom are ready. That preparation is not merely architectural. It is spiritual, covenantal, relational, and societal. Christ will reign among people who desire His law, welcome His presence, and are willing to become one in Him.

Why the Early Saints Could Not Yet Establish Zion

The experiences of the early Saints in Missouri teach a sobering lesson: wanting Zion is not the same as being ready for Zion.

The Lord explained that contention, envy, greed, and disobedience prevented the Saints from establishing Zion (Doctrine and Covenants 101:1–8). He later said they needed to be taught more perfectly, gain experience, understand their duty, and become endowed with power before Zion could be redeemed (Doctrine and Covenants 105:9–12).

Their story teaches us not to treat Zion as an exciting future event that requires nothing from us now. Zion cannot be built by people who carry Babylon in their hearts. If we remain ruled by pride, resentment, materialism, selfishness, lust, rivalry, or indifference to the suffering of others, changing our address will not make us a Zion people.

The Lord must change our hearts—and we must willingly participate in that change through faith, repentance, ordinances, covenants, and the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost.

We Prepare for Zion by Living Our Covenants Now

We do not need to wait for an announcement about Missouri before beginning to build Zion. The Church currently teaches members to establish Zion wherever they live, strengthening their families, wards, stakes, and communities. If the Lord gives further direction concerning the New Jerusalem, it will come in His way and through His authorized servants. Our responsibility today is to become the kind of people who will be ready to respond.

We prepare for Zion whenever we truly live our covenants:

We become one in Christ. We forgive rather than hold grudges. We refuse to feed contention. We listen with humility, repent when we cause harm, and seek reconciliation in our homes. A Zion city begins with Zion marriages, Zion families, and Zion relationships.

We care for the poor and the vulnerable. Enoch’s society had no poor among them. We move toward that ideal when we fast generously, minister sincerely, share our time and resources, notice the lonely, and treat another person’s burden as worthy of our attention.

We practice consecration. Consecration means recognizing that our body, time, abilities, influence, possessions, and opportunities belong to God. We ask not only, “What do I want to do with my life?” but also, “Lord, what would Thou have me do with what Thou hast given me?”

We make the temple the center of our lives. The temple will stand at the center of the New Jerusalem because Christ and His covenant order stand at the center of Zion. Regular temple worship teaches us to live in God’s presence, bind our families to Him, and place His work above the values of Babylon.

We gather Israel. Missionary work, covenant keeping, family history, and temple service all prepare a people for the Lord. The gathering is not simply the movement of people to a location; it is the movement of hearts toward Jesus Christ and His covenants.

We seek purity of heart. Purity does not mean that we have never fallen. It means that we repeatedly turn to Christ, surrender our sins and our will, and allow His grace to transform us. Zion will not be populated by people who saved themselves. It will be built by people who have been redeemed, healed, and made one through the blood of the Lamb.

From One Holy City to a Worldwide Zion

The New Jerusalem in Missouri is called the “center place,” but Zion is larger than one city. Stakes of Zion are already being established throughout the nations as places of gathering, strength, worship, and refuge. Official Church teaching explains that the New Jerusalem will be the first of Zion communities prepared for the Millennium and that Zion society will ultimately spread throughout the earth.

This does not necessarily mean that the physical boundaries of one city will expand until every continent is part of metropolitan Missouri. Rather, the order of Zion—the worship of Christ, covenant unity, justice, peace, consecration, holiness, and care for all God’s children—will fill the earth under the Savior’s reign.

At the Lord’s coming, the Zion of Enoch will unite with the latter-day Zion (Moses 7:62–65). Christ will reign personally upon the earth. Satan will be bound, righteousness will prevail, and the earth will rest. What begins as the preparation of covenant people and sacred centers will become a worldwide society ordered according to the will of God.

We Are Not Merely Waiting for Zion

It is easy to imagine that the most important part of building Zion will begin with a future prophetic call. But the deeper work has already begun.

Every time we choose unity over contention, consecration over selfishness, chastity over appetite, forgiveness over resentment, service over indifference, and Jesus Christ over Babylon, another part of Zion is built within us.

Someday, the Lord will fulfill every promise concerning the New Jerusalem. The center place will be established. A temple will be built. A holy people will gather according to His direction. The Savior will reign, and the principles of Zion will eventually fill the earth.

But before Zion can be a city to which the Lord comes, Zion must become a people who truly want to live with Him.

The question is therefore not merely, “When will the call come to build the New Jerusalem?”

The more searching question is, “Am I allowing Jesus Christ to make me into someone who could live there?”

We prepare the place by first letting the Lord prepare the people. And that preparation begins today—in our hearts, in our homes, in our covenants, and in the quiet daily choice to become one with Jesus Christ.