From ‘One Hundred Favorite Verses to Bring You Closer to Christ,’ Shauna Humphreys shares:
And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defense. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from the storm and from rain. Isaiah 5:5-6
We live in a society that is becoming ever more precarious, where increasingly we seem to have no reassurances regarding economic, political, moral, and physical safety. A cacophony of voices call to us in an increasing crescendo of political promises that defy comprehension. What we could once look to as a strong moral structure has come crashing down in a heap of revolting rubble that makes a mockery of all things decent and sacred. Companies that sell protection against home invasion are increasing in number as crimes against life and personal property escalate. The future seems dismal indeed—or does it?
Unlike that of a deteriorating society, the Lord’s infrastructure is alive and well, and His calm, reassuring voice speaks peace to our minds and offers safety to our souls if we stand in holy places. Isiah specifies what those holy places are: our homes (dwelling places), our stakes and wards (assemblies), and our temples (tabernacles). We recall how the Lord went before the children of Israel in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He promises to provide that same divine guidance and protection to us as we stand in holy places. Our homes and families must be places of spiritual training and safety for our children: “And they shall also teach their children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord” (Doctrine & Covenants 68:28). He also expects us to strengthen and serve one another in the Church. “And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you” (Doctrine & Covenants 88:77-78). In addition He counsels us to be among the many who “go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob” (Isaiah 2:3), where we learn of His ways and are taught to walk the safe and holy paths leading to salvation.
King Benjamin understood holy places, when he presided over his marvelous “general conference,” he instructed his people to assemble themselves in families with the doors of their tents facing towards the temple from whence the words of life and salvation would be dispensed. Like the protective tents of King Benjamin’s congregation, holy places provide spiritual shade when the heat of worldly cares might otherwise consume us; they provide safe havens of refuge that cannot be penetrated or violated by Satan’s minions, and they are fitting habitations for the Lord’s illuminating presence. Surely the pure in heart who gather together will find that the Lord is “our shadow by day and our pillar by night, Our King, Our Deliverer, our all!” (Hymns, no.6). ~Shauna Humphreys, 100 favorite verses (American Fork: Covenant Communications, 2012), 67-68
