Twenty and Four of Us

In a recent episode of the Talking Scriptures podcast, Mike Day and Bryce Dunford made some interesting suggestions about the symbolism of the final battle at Cumorah. One of those was based on the final remaining number of Nephites alive after the gruesome battle. Mormon recorded, “And when they had gone through and hewn down all my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni) and we having survived the dead of our people” (Mormon 6:11). They tied this to a passage in the book of Revelation in which John recorded, “And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold” (Revelation 4:4). Modern revelation gives us this explanation of these twenty-four: “Q. What are we to understand by the four and twenty elders, spoken of by John? A. We are to understand that these elders whom John saw, were elders who had been faithful in the work of the ministry and were dead; who belonged to the seven churches, and were then in the paradise of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 77:5). These elders saw the Lord on His throne, and they beheld that He had in His hand a book that was sealed: “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals” (Revelation 5:1). On Cumorah we know that at least two of these were righteous Elders—Mormon and Moroni—but perhaps they all were faithful Elders. Instead of being those who had died, at Cumorah these twenty-four were those who had not died, but they stood atop a sacred mountain. And it was filled with the sacred records of God, for Mormon wrote: "I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni” (Mormon 6:6). Most importantly, on that mountain was the book that was being finished and soon to be buried up for our day. And that book too would be sealed.

                Two other parts of this story also connect it to this number twenty-four. Mormon recorded at the start of the account of his life that the prophet Ammoron hid the records and came to him: “Ammaron said unto me: I perceive that thou art a sober child, and art quick to observe; Therefore, when ye are about twenty and four years old I would that ye should remember the things that ye have observed concerning this people; and when ye are of that age go to the land Antum, unto a hill which shall be called Shim; and there have I deposited unto the Lord all the sacred engravings concerning this people” (Mormon 1:2-3). At the age of twenty-four, Mormon was to take possession of the sacred records. This he did and ultimately brought them to be hid up in Cumorah where this last battle took place. Among those records were these found by the people of Limhi: “And for a testimony that the things that they had said are true they have brought twenty-four plates which are filled with engravings, and they are of pure gold” (Mosiah 8:9). These were the Jaredite records, and the Book of Mormon repeats two other times that there were twenty-four of them, suggesting that was somehow an important point (see Alma 37:21 and Ether 1:2). Among these was not only the story of the Jaredites, finished by the prophet Ether, but also the magnificent vision of the end of the world received by the brother of Jared and sealed up to come forth at some future day. Moroni, one of these twenty-four who took possession of both the Book of Mormon record and those twenty-four plates when his father passed away, explained to us what was on them: “Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared. Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up.” Like the sealed book those twenty-four Elders saw in the hand of the Lord in John’s vision, this account by one of the Nephite twenty-four taken from the twenty-four plates was also sealed. But it will one day be opened to us: “And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw.” The Lord even connected the revealing of that vision with this vision of John: “And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people. Remember, when ye see these things, ye shall know that the time is at hand that they shall be made manifest in very deed” (Ether 4:4-5, 7, 16). We look forward to that glorious day when we “shall rend that veil of unbelief” and understand fully the great vision of John and “the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are” (Ether 4:7, 15).