Before the date appointed in the revelation for the Twelve to take leave of the Saints at Far West for a foreign mission, _viz.,_ the 26th of April, 1839, that city had fallen into the hands of the mob, the church leaders were cast into prison, the apostles were scattered and the great body of the church driven from the state. In the midst of these circumstances it was a matter of open boasting with the mob that there was at least one of "old Joe Smith's" revelations that would fail. [11] They said that there would be no meeting of the Twelve with the Saints on the 26th of April, 1839. But a consultation of the apostles who escaped from Missouri was held early in the spring of 1839, at Quincy, and they resolved return to Far West and fulfill the Lord's commandment, which, as the reader will perceive, partook of the nature of a prophecy. The undertaking was successful. Five of the apostles were at the temple site before day light of the day appointed, together with a number of high priests, elders and priests. At this meeting they excommunicated a number of persons from the church, ordained Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith apostles, and others were ordained to the office of seventy. The apostles each prayed in turn, and a beautiful hymn called "Adam-Ondi-Ahman" was sung. At the conclusion of the hymn, Elder Alpheus Cutler, the master workman of the Lord's House, laid the south-east corner stone in its position, and stated that in consequence of the peculiar situation of the Saints it was deemed prudent to discontinue further labor on the house until the Lord should open the way for its completion. The apostles then took leave of some seventeen Saints who were present and started on their way to fulfill their missions beyond the Atlantic. Thus the commandment and prophecy which the mobs of Missouri so confidently boasted should fail, were fulfilled. In a revelation given in March, 1831, after telling some of the judgments and commotions which shall precede the glorious coming of the Lord Jesus, occurs this prophecy: "But before the great day of the Lord shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites [the American Indians] shall blossom as the rose. Zion shall flourish upon the hills and rejoice upon the mountains, and shall be assembled together unto the place which I have appointed." [12] In order to have a complete understanding of this prophecy it is necessary to explain that the word "Zion" refers not only to a land called Zion, and a city called Zion, but also to a people, as will be clearly seen in the above, where "Zion" is not only to rejoice upon the mountains, but is also to "be assembled together," which really could only be consistently said of a people. In another revelation the Lord says: "Let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion, _the pure in heart;_ therefore, let Zion rejoice, while all the wicked shall mourn." [13] With this explanation of the word "Zion" let us now consider the prophecy: