The Temple and Angel Moroni

A couple of weeks ago the Provo City Center temple that is under construction had the angel Moroni statue placed on top of it (see here).  This is common to most of our temples, and it begs the question, why do we place a statue of angel Moroni on temples? 
The first temple to have angel Moroni was the Salt Lake Temple.  Apparently President Wilford Woodruff assigned non-LDS artist Cyrus Dallin to create a statue, and apparently after consulting with his mother he decided to create the angel Moroni.  The Los Angeles temple in 1956 was the second temple to have Moroni, the Washington D.C. temple in 1974 was the third, and I guess the rest is history with most temples now having Moroni on top.  So it appears that this was not a deliberate decision stemming from direct revelation, but this pattern that has developed of having Moroni on top of temples symbolizes so much about our faith.  To me here’s what the statue represents:

·         A witness of prophecy fulfilled.  John wrote, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him” (Revelation 14:6-7).  President Benson said after quoting this scripture, “Our solemn testimony is that this angelic messenger appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the early nineteenth century” (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Ezra Taft Benson, chapter 7).  His affirmation along with many other modern prophets was that John’s angel was indeed angel Moroni.  Having the status on our temples—showing him still “flying in the midst of heaven” then to me stands as a testimony that New Testament prophecies concerning the Restoration have been fulfilled.

·         A witness of the Book of Mormon.  Moroni of course was the final writer of the Book of Mormon, the one who sealed it up, delivered it to Joseph, and saw that the translation of the plates was completed.  Having him atop our temples is a witness to the world that we really do believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.  Moroni was not a fictional character.

·         A witness of revelation.  One of the great stumbling blocks for many who learn about the Church is that at the core it is founded in a belief of visions, revelations, and even angelic visitations.  To disbelieve that angels can come in our day to visit man is to disbelieve the whole restoration itself.  With Moroni’s father we tell the world: “Have miracles ceased? … Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men” (Moroni 7:29).  Having Moroni at the most prominent place outside our most prominent buildings is a witness that we indeed believe in continuing revelation from God and that He does speak to His children in powerful ways in these latter days. 

·         A witness of the Second Coming.  Nearly all of the statues face east, the direction from which the Lord will come when He returns.  The Lord taught his disciples about the Second Coming in the Olivet Discourse: “The Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds” (JSM 1:37).  So angels with trumpets are meant to announce the great advent of the Lord, and we can surely consider Moroni to be one of those angels. 

There are probably other ways as well in which the statues of Moroni capture core principles of our faith.  Ultimately he stands a symbol of the whole restoration of the gospel and we, like him, should proclaim it to “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”