The Brother of Jared and the Urim and Thummin

When the brother of Jared went to the top of the Mount Shelem, he took 16 stones. When he came back down, he had 18. In addition to touching those 16 stones and causing them to give light, the Lord gave the brother of Jared two more: “And behold, these two stones will I give unto thee, and ye shall seal them up also with the things which ye shall write. For behold, the language which ye shall write I have confounded; wherefore I will cause in my own due time that these stones shall magnify to the eyes of men these things which ye shall write” (Ether 3:23-24). These were the Urim and Thummin, which apparently means “lights and perfections,” which would eventually be used to help translate records. Those 16 stones were made to give physical light for their journey across the sea, but these final two stones were to give spiritual light, becoming a source of revelation and truth. We don’t know what happened to the 16 stones that the brother of Jared made—perhaps they no longer shone once their journey was over—but the Urim and Thummin given by the Lord lasted for millennia. They eventually ended up in the possession of the Prophet Joseph, and he used them to translate the Book of Mormon. And the Three Witnesses in 1829 were also given a view of “the Urim and Thummin, which were given to the brother of Jared upon the mount, when he talked with the Lord face to face” (Doctrine and Covenants 17:1). What a marvelous experience that must have been to see the very rocks the Lord had give to the brother of Jared so many years before.

               It would seem that this experience of these few men who had or saw the Urim and Thummin was very unique, and we are perhaps unlikely to be given such an opportunity to view or use the Urim and Thummin personally in our lives. But this story is perhaps more important for us than we think, for the Prophet Joseph gave this very interesting statement about the Urim and Thummin: “The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummin. This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummin to the inhabitants who dwell thereon.” I surely don’t understand exactly what that means, but perhaps it suggests that the place where God resides and where heaven will be is one of revelation, where eternal truths are given so freely and frequently to its habitants that the whole place is called a Urim and Thummin. And that we all can have someday. The Prophet further suggested that we will receive our own version of the stones, just like the brother of Jared, if we hold out faithful to the end: “Then the white stone mentioned in Revelation 2:17, will become a Urim and Thummin to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known; And a white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:8-11). All those who inherit the celestial kingdom will be given their own personal Urim and Thummin, perhaps again a symbol of the flood of knowledge and understanding we will continue to gain as we progress on our eternal journey. But surely the story of the brother of Jared and accounts of Urim and Thummins being used in mortality to receive revelation from the Lord are symbolic of the Lord’s willingness to reveal Himself to each of us. Though we may not have as dramatic of an experience as the brother of Jared, the Lord is willing to pour out revelation on us all: “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, 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).