D&C 57 — Independence, Missouri, the Center Place of Zion
I was building a dining table last fall, a trestle style with a live edge. I laid out the top, squared the ends, marked the centerline. Then I realized I had misread the drawing. The centerline was off by three inches.
Three inches does not sound like much. But when the legs and the stretcher are all keyed to that centerline, three inches means the whole thing sits crooked. I had to pull the clamps off, shift the reference, and start the layout again.
D&C 57 is a revelation about centerlines, and it pulls no punches. The Lord tells a group of Saints exactly where to put the center of Zion, who should handle the land, who should run the store, and who should run the press. It is the most practical chapter in the Doctrine and Covenants, and that is what makes it remarkable.
Why Is Independence Missouri Called the Center Place of Zion
The revelation opens with a direct statement. The Lord calls the land of Missouri the land of promise and the place for the city of Zion.
Hearken, O ye elders of my church, saith the Lord your God, who have assembled yourselves together, according to my commandments, in this land, which is the land of Missouri, which is the land which I have appointed and consecrated for the gathering of the saints. (D&C 57:1)
This was a specific geographical point, not a suggestion or a general direction. Independence was not chosen because it had good soil or a nice climate or because it was centrally located in the country. It was chosen because the Lord said so.
I think about that when I pick a piece of wood for a project. Sometimes the best board in the stack is not the right one for that particular piece. The right one is the one that fits the plan. Independence fit the plan, even if it was not the obvious choice by human reasoning.
Meaning of the Temple Lot in Independence Missouri
Verse 3 gets even more specific.
Wherefore, this is the land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion. And thus saith the Lord your God, if you will receive wisdom here is wisdom. Behold, the place which is now called Independence is the center place; and a spot for the temple is lying westward, upon a lot which is not far from the courthouse.
A lot not far from the courthouse. That is how specific the revelation gets. A quarter of a mile from the local courthouse, there is a piece of ground that was designated for a temple before there was a single Latter-day Saint living in the town.
I drove through Independence once on a trip. I did not get out of the car. But I remember looking at the Temple Lot and thinking about how much weight one piece of ground can carry. Wars, people driven out, decades of litigation. And the lot is still there, waiting.
How Does D&C 57 Explain the Gathering of the Saints
The next verses lay out the practical work. Sidney Gilbert is appointed to buy land and run a store. And here is the line that stops me every time.
And he shall also sell me goods without fraud. (D&C 57:9)
That is a short verse but says plenty. The store served a purpose beyond commerce, it was part of building Zion. If the store was dishonest, the whole project was compromised. A community cannot call itself Zion if the people are cheating each other in business.
I have cut corners in my shop, and I bet you have too. A joint that will hold but is not quite tight. A piece of wood that is slightly warped but will pass if the customer does not look too close. Every time I do it, I feel it. The work sits wrong. The same goes for writing code on a payments team, cutting a corner on a validation check because the edge case is rare. A short line in a revelation about a frontier store still applies to a fintech database table in 2026.
Who Were the Leaders Appointed in D&C 57
The chapter names specific people with specific jobs.
Edward Partridge is the bishop, tasked with dividing the land among the Saints according to the law of the Lord. William W. Phelps is called as a printer to publish materials for the Church and for the people sitting in darkness. Oliver Cowdery is assigned to help with the printing, to copy and correct and select.
The Lord did not give general instructions and hope someone figured it out. He said, Sidney does this, Edward does that, William does this other thing. The kind of clarity that makes a project work.
I installed a new dust collection system in my shop last winter. I did not just buy a cyclone and hope the pipes arranged themselves. Graph paper came out first, and I figured out which run goes where, which machine connects to which drop, which duct gets the most draw. The project went fast because the plan was clear before I touched a tool.
What Is the Significance of the Land of Promise in Missouri
The chapter also includes a warning about the consequences of failing to build Zion as commanded. The Lord later gave a more detailed revelation about those consequences in D&C 101.
The temple was the center. The store and the press and the land distribution were the infrastructure around it. But none of it would have happened if someone had not been willing to move to a frontier town and start building.
I have a walnut board in my shop that I have been saving for a desk. I keep waiting for the right design. But the board does not become a desk by sitting against the wall. At some point you have to make the first cut.
The Saints made the first cut. They bought the land, set up the store, started the press. The rest did not go the way they hoped. The expulsion from Missouri came a few years later. But the designation did not change. The lot is still there.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the center place mentioned in D&C 57?
Independence, Missouri. The Lord designated this city as the gathering place for the Saints and the site where a temple would eventually be built. The revelation gives a specific location for the temple lot, west of the courthouse.
Why did the Lord emphasize that Sidney Gilbert should sell goods without fraud?
Because the temporal affairs of Zion were meant to be a model of righteousness. If the store was dishonest, the whole community project was compromised. The verse shows that spiritual integrity extends to every business transaction.
What was the purpose of appointing a printer in Independence?
Earlier in the revelation, the Lord called William W. Phelps as a printer. The press was one of the most powerful tools of the era, and the Lord wanted it used for building the kingdom. His earlier call is covered in D&C 55.
Why did the Lord give such specific location details for the temple?
The specificity shows that God works through concrete details. A general directive to build Zion somewhere in Missouri would not have unified the Saints. A specific lot near a specific courthouse gave them a target they could actually hit.
What happened to the Saints in Missouri after this revelation?
The Saints built up Independence and the surrounding areas for a few years, but conflict with existing residents led to their expulsion by 1839, a story that echoes the persecution described in Acts 8. The Temple Lot remained designated, and the Church has maintained its connection to the site ever since.
I finished that trestle table, by the way. After I reset the centerline, everything lined up the way it should. The legs sit square, the top is level, and the whole thing holds together without a wobble. You would never know about the three-inch mistake unless I told you.
Some centerlines only matter to the person who laid them out. Others matter to everyone who comes after. The one in Independence is the second kind.
-- D.