Even among the temples of the present dispensation there is a graded variety in the details of construction. The first temple of modern times was in a measure incomplete as compared with the holy houses of later construction. {112} The fact was doubtless known to the Lord, though wisely hidden from common knowledge, that the Kirtland Temple would serve but for the beginning of the re-establishment of those distinctive ordinances for which temples are essential. Even as the Tabernacle of old was but an inferior type of what would follow, designed for temporary use under special conditions, so the earlier temples of the latter-day dispensation, specifically those of Kirtland and Nauvoo, were but temporary Houses of the Lord, destined to serve for short periods only as sanctuaries. Scarcely had The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints been organized when the Lord indicated the necessity of a temple, in which He could reveal His mind and will to man, and in which the sanctifying ordinances of the Gospel could be administered. In a revelation given as early as December, 1830, the Lord said: "I am Jesus Christ the Son of God: wherefore gird up your loins and I will suddenly come to my temple."[1] In February 1831, the Lord further indicated His purpose thus: "That my covenant people may be gathered in one in that day when I shall come to my temple. And this I do for the salvation of my people."[2] More definite instructions as to the practical labors incident to the procuring of a site and the rearing of a temple soon followed. TEMPLE SITE AT INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI The principal seat of the Church had been temporarily established at Kirtland, Ohio; nevertheless the prophet had learned through early revelation that Zion would be {113} established far to the west. In June, 1831, a conference of elders was held at Kirtland, on which occasion a revelation[3] was received directing certain of the elders to start westward, traveling in pairs and preaching by the way. In the month following, these elders reassembled at a designated place in western Missouri, all rejoicing in their ministry and eager to learn the further will of the Lord. The burden of their prayer and song is thus expressed by the prophet: "When will the wilderness blossom as the rose? When will Zion be built up in her glory, and where will thy temple stand, unto which all nations shall come in the last days?"[4] In answer to their supplications the Lord spake by the mouth of His prophet, designating the western part of Missouri as the land of Zion, and the site occupied by the town of Independence as the "center place," and specifying a spot as that upon which a temple should be built.[5]