The temple is central to Latter-day Saint worship. Through modern revelation Joseph Smith restored the ancient tradition of temples and the ordinances performed therein. Studies of ancient temples can shed much light on latter-day temples and temple worship. On 14 May 2011, LDS author and researcher Matthew B. Brown organized and held The Expound Symposium. Matt loved the temple and temple worship, and focused much of his research on ancient and modern temples. His interests and knowledge were vast.

This volume is a collection of the invited papers presented at the conference along with a selection of additional articles. Most of the chapters focus on the temple-related topics that Matt loved. They explore the biblical pattern that relates the symbols of the cube, the gate, and measuring tools; the Tabernacle as a Mountain of God; ancient reverberations with Joseph Smith’s statements about standing in the holy place; ritual hand gestures in the ancient world; the sacred embrace and the sacred handclasp; the theme of ascent in the Psalms; the sôd of YHWH and the endowment; the mir‘aj of Muhammad; Egyptian tree goddess iconography; Nephite daykeepers; and issues relating to the genetics of indigenous populations and the historicity of the Book of Mormon.