The Great and Spacious Bulding

In his vision Lehi described, “And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth. And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.” He recorded that he saw “other multitudes feeling their way towards that great and spacious building” (1 Nephi 8:26, 31). Later in his own vision Nephi learned more about this building. He recorded, “And the multitude of the earth was gathered together; and I beheld that they were in a large and spacious building, like unto the building which my father saw. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Behold the world and the wisdom thereof; yea, behold the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” That is the first interpretation of the building: “the world and the wisdom thereof.” Nephi continued, “And it came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great” (1 Nephi 11:35-36). That is the second interpretation of the building: “the pride of the world.” In the next chapter he received a third interpretation from the angel: “And the large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men” (1 Nephi 12:18). So twice the building was called “large and spacious” and three times it was referred to as “great and spacious,” and it represents the wisdom of the world, the pride of the world, and the vain imaginations and pride of the children of men. It is the wisdom, philosophies, and haughtiness of the world that go against the teachings of the Savior.

One thing I had never considered before is that the three adjectives used to describe it (great, large, and spacious), all mean approximately the same thing. I think great and large were meant to be interchangeable, but why is it called great and spacious (or large and spacious), and not just great or large? Perhaps the “great” or “large” part refers to the outside of the building—enormous to look at. It is meant to be prominent and domineering, visible to everyone wherever they are. The world’s wisdom and pride and philosophies are put out there such that we are to be intimidated by them because they are “large” and, some might suppose, accepted by all. On the other hand, the “spacious” part perhaps refers to the inside of the building suggesting plenty of room for people and ideas. I think the area of the tree and the rod of iron was much smaller than that of the building, highlighting the fact that the “straight and narrow” way to eternal life is small. In fact, there is only one way to salvation, and that is through Jesus Christ. On the other hand, there are many paths and ways that lead to everlasting damnation; that is perhaps why the building is spacious: not only does it have lots of room for all kinds of people, but it also can accommodate lots of ideas and philosophies of men. The Savior put it this way in the Sermon on the Mount: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). The adversary doesn’t care what philosophy or sin or temptation takes us away from the Savior; he just wants to take us from the path that leads to eternal life. So perhaps the great and spacious parts are in fact contradictory in a sense: we are led to believe by the large building that it is a single philosophy accepted by all and leading us to unity, but on the inside the spacious rooms in fact are full of many different philosophies and ideas and kinds of people that are united only in their rejection of the true way. We must instead reject the building and all its rooms and focus on the only path to peace and eternal life, the Savior’s gospel which “is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end” (2 Nephi 31:21).