A Little Cloud Like a Man's Hand

As I listened to a BYU scripture discussion on the Doctrine and Covenants recently I was reminded of an interesting verse in 1 Kings in the story of Elijah and the priests of Baal.  After Elijah had called down fire from heaven to show that Jehovah was the only true God, he “went up to the top of Carmel… and said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea.”  The servant then looked seven times until he finally saw something in the sky he described this way: “Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand” (1 Kings 18:42-44).  This was the sign to Elijah that the rain was on the way, coming to give water to the parched land that had been in a “sore famine” (1 Kings 18:2).  Soon “the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain”—it was indeed a miracle from the Lord to end the famine (1 Kings 18:45).  Elijah had sealed the heavens earlier by the power of God when he had said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word” (1 Kings 17:1).  And now by that same sealing power he loosed the heavens and brought the rain again.  After this Elijah then took off into the wilderness because Jezebel did not appreciate his treatment of the priests of Baal. 

What is intriguing about this story is the little cloud “like a man’s hand.”  Why was there a representation of a hand and does it mean anything?  In the scripture discussion Sister Black suggested that it was related to Elijah’s role as the holder of the sealing power.  In his lifetime—as this story shows—Elijah held the power to seal the physical elements, and in our dispensation he brought back the power to seal on earth and in heaven.  In particular it was Elijah who came on April 3, 1836 to fulfill the prophecy of Malachi that he would “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:6).  It was Elijah who turned the key to bring back the temple ordinances including the ability to seal families together forever through Priesthood ordinances.   He said to Joseph in a “great and glorious vision” these words: “Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands” (D&C 110:16).  With those keys Joseph was told by the Lord, “Whatsoever you seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever you bind on earth, in my name and by my word, saith the Lord, it shall be eternally bound in the heavens” (D&C 132:46).  Now through the ordinances of the Priesthood that was given to Joseph we can all make sacred covenants, and those covenants involve the hands.  When we are baptized someone raises his hand to the square, when we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost hands are laid on our heads, and when someone receives the Priesthood the same occurs.  When we partake of the Sacrament it is with our hands, and the washing and anointing must likewise be administered via the hands.  And so it continues through the ordinances that allow us to be sealed to our families and to God.  Perhaps that “man’s hand” that the servant of Elijah saw was in reality a representation of the great power to seal that Elijah held and would pass on to later dispensations.