Four Gates and a Cosmic City at Beersheba
Chapter 9, part 3 of The Blessings of Abraham:  Becoming a Zion People
By E. Douglas Clark

Even Abraham had his detractors, and back in Beersheba, he found that they seized upon this latest episode in his domestic life to criticize him. “If he were a righteous man,” they complained, “would he have thrust away his firstborn son?”

Years before, while still childless, his critics had charged, “If he were a righteous man, would he not have begotten children?” ^[1]

Many had been and would be the occasions when, in obeying God, Abraham would risk his reputation for righteousness. It was one of the many ironies of his life, and a sacrifice he was willing to make. It is also an indication of the depth of his testimony, for as explained in the Lectures on Faith, “For a man to lay down his all, his character and reputation, his honor, and applause, his good name among men, his houses, his lands, his brothers and sisters, his wife and children, and even his own life also — counting all things but filth and dross for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ — requires more than mere belief or supposition that he is doing the will of God; but actual knowledge, realizing that, when these sufferings are ended, he will enter into eternal rest, and be a partaker of the glory of God.” ^[2]

Armed with that knowledge, Abraham proceeded to press forward, inviting all to the Savior and His Zion. At the various locations where Abraham dug wells, he called them by names that would call to mind the reality and goodness of God. “By this he would arouse in [the people] an awareness of the truth by saying, Let us go and draw water from the well of the eternal God! The wells were a public necessity, and in this manner, the people were initiated into a knowledge of the true God.” ^[3]

But the center for his missionary efforts was his own residence, where he planted a lush garden containing vines and figs, pomegranates, ^[4] and “all kinds of choice fruits.” ^[5] As remembered in Jewish tradition,

Together Abraham and Sarah served in this labor of love to provide “food, drink, and companionship” ^[8] in this visitors’ center designed to lift and bless people and bring them to Christ. It was also “a great school, in which men were taught the true religion, and gratitude to the Almighty God,” ^[9] and which apparently included a seminary for youth. ^[10] Abraham’s highest priority, of course, was his own son: “Abraham wrote books” about the greatness of God “and taught them to his son Isaac.” ^[11]

Tradition further tells of “an abundant spring of fresh water” at Beersheba, ^[12] recalling a similar spring at Hebron that Abraham used as a baptismal font. The blessing that Abraham conveyed to humanity was, according the rabbis, associated with a pool, by means of which Abraham cleansed his fellow men and brought them near to God. ^[13] It was nothing less than the ordinance of baptism for the remission of sins, following faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and repentance of sins.

So trusted and respected was Abraham that people came to him and asked him to settle their disputes. Unlike most judges, however, he did not stop with merely ascertaining a fair resolution between the parties, but “would not let them go until they had made peace with each other,” exhorting them to “go in peace and love one another, and the Lord will love you and bless you always.” ^[14] Abraham’s peacemaking helps explain why he received such blessings, for, as the Savior would explain, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matt. 5:9).

Abraham’s kindness was noised abroad far and wide, and guests seeking every manner of blessing visited him “from the ends of the world” ^[15] and “all parts of the earth,” including “all who were unhappy and all who were in despair … and Abraham welcomed them with joy and love.” ^[16] His example would be emulated by a branch of his Nephite descendants, who, in their efforts to qualify to “sit down with Abraham ... in the kingdom of heaven” (Alma 7:25), used the means that God had given them to liberally bless and comfort their fellow beings. ^[17] It is the same mission and opportunity devolving on Abraham’s latter-day descendants who have received the restored gospel and are charged to bless all nations. “We are a world church with a world message and a world program,” explained President Gordon B. Hinckley, “and our whole course is designed to help people, to lift them, to strengthen them.” ^[18]

Judaism also would remember Abraham’s example, and even the structure of his welcoming residence. Louis Ginzberg reported in the early twentieth century that Eastern European Jews were still calling a house with many doors a “house with father Abraham’s doors.” ^[19]

But Abraham’s four gates opening to the four points of the compass were apparently more than hospitable architecture. Years earlier he had viewed the Promised Land from the heights of Mount Hazor, ^[20] and then was lifted up for a bird’s eye view to apparently see the whole earth along all its four cardinal points. ^[21]

Abraham’s very birth had been heralded by a star that swallowed up the four stars at the four corners of heaven. And in Facsimile 2 of the Book of Abraham, Abraham drew four figures standing next to each other “represent[ing] this earth in its four quarters,” ^[22] a motif recurring throughout ancient civilizations ^[23] and used to indicate a ruler’s authority over all the earth. ^[24] The King of Babylon, for example, bore the title of “The King of the Four Quadrants of the Earth.” ^[25]

Pharaoh was enthroned facing in turn all four directions at his coronation, ^[26] while at the ceremony celebrating the renewal of his kingship, an arrow was shot in the four directions, and the king would make a ritual walk around the field and consecrate it four times. ^[27] And in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, “the four quarters of Ra [are] the extent of the earth.” ^[28]

But there may well be more than geographic symbolism in Abraham’s Facsimile 2, for the perfectly perpendicular angles of Abraham’s design might perhaps represent the exactness of his obedience to the covenants and commandments he had received.

And with those commandments that God had given him had come his appointment to the the cosmic kingship that all those other rulers falsely claimed and memorialized that claim by constructing “cosmic cities” following a pattern similar to what Abraham built at Beersheba. Their circular shape was divided into four quadrants representing the four quarters of the world, with a gate at each cardinal point. ^[29] The circular shape of these cities reflected the sun’s circuit in the heavens, ^[30] so that the king claimed to be “ruler of all that which is encircled by the sun,” ^[31] again reminiscent of the shape of Abraham’s own Facsimile 2.

Where did such concepts originate? The earliest evidence points directly to Enoch, who in restored scripture is remembered as the great city builder (Moses 7:18–21). As the seventh patriarchal ruler, he was remembered in Mesopotamian tradition as Enmeduranki, the king of a city whose god was the solar deity. ^[32] Additional solar associations are suggested by the number 365, the number of years that Genesis says Enoch walked with God before being taken (Gen. 5:23), or the number of years the Book of Moses says Enoch’s city was in existence before God took it (Moses 7:68). In addition, the apocryphal Enoch literature makes much of the solar calendar. ^[33] Enoch’s city appears to be the pattern copied over and over by monarchs of the ancient world as they built their cosmic cities.

A Temple in Zion

But the most prominent feature of those cities, and located at the center, was always a temple, ^[34] “the largest, tallest, and most impressive building” of the city. ^[35] If all this was patterned after Enoch’s city, why does scripture not mention a temple there? The Book of Moses does give an important clue when it relates that “the Lord came and dwelt with his people” (Moses 7:16), for the single most important function of an ancient temple was to be “a house for the god, his dwelling place.” ^[36]

But apparently the intent of the Book of Moses is not to describe the buildings in the city of Zion but rather the spiritual righteousness and harmony of the people (see Moses 7:18), again reminiscent of the ancient cosmic city whose inhabitants are subject to the cosmic laws reflected in the city’s layout. ^[37]

In the case of Enoch’s city, its inhabitants included all those who had accepted Enoch’s preaching and had moved to Zion, or, as John Taylor described them, “were gathered together ... unto a place which they called Zion.” ^[38] And if gathered, then necessarily to build a temple, according to Joseph Smith, for the object of gathering in any age of the world is always to build a temple. ^[39] Hence Brigham Young said that even though “we have no account of it,” Enoch must have had a temple and officiated therein. ^[40]

Since Brother Brigham’s day, Enoch texts have emerged that expressly refer to a temple among Enoch and his people, and relate that Enoch taught his sons to go to the temple. ^[41] Enoch’s cosmic city, built around a temple, was indeed the ancient pattern for the many temple cities that would later spring up throughout the ancient Near East.

Central to the theology of those temples was a re-creation of the original paradise, as seen, for example, in the Jerusalem Temple, which was viewed as a paradise where “the primal perfection of Eden is wonderfully preserved.” ^[42] The description calls to mind Enoch’s city being translated to the terrestrial paradise where, according to Jubilees, Enoch was “led ... into the Garden of Eden.” ^[43]

It also calls to mind the lush garden that Abraham planted at Beersheba, described in Jewish tradition as the “paradise at Beersheba” ^[44] and referred to by Nibley as Abraham’s “model Garden of Eden.” ^[45] The Zohar tells that Abraham restored the earth to its paradisiacal condition as the ground again blossomed in loveliness and “all the powers of the earth were restored and displayed themselves.” ^[46] It was an echo of the first Edenic Zion, connected to the powers of heaven: one tradition tells that by planting his grove of trees to serve mankind, Abraham “planted a tree for himself in heaven which would produce the fruits of his reward,” ^[47] calling to mind Alma’s similar metaphor used for all the righteous who plant the seed of faith (Alma 32:28–43).

Would not Abraham’s paradisiacal garden, so carefully laid out to mirror the cosmos, have had its temple? One of the sources cited by the famous medieval alchemist Nicholas Flamel expressly reports that Abraham indeed had a temple, following the pattern of his forefathers. ^[48] Having received the remaining temple ordinances from Melchizedek in his temple at Salem, Abraham now passed these on to the community of Saints over whom he presided.

According to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, “From the days of Adam to the present, whenever the Lord has had a people on earth, temples and temple ordinances have been a crowning feature of their worship. ‘My people are always commanded to build’ temples, the Lord says, ‘for the glory, honor, and endowment’ of all the saints ... These temples have been costly and elaborate buildings whenever the abilities of the people have permitted such.” ^[49]

Abraham’s temple at Beersheba would surely have been one of the most costly and elaborate of all, given the vast resources with which God had blessed him.

At least part of his temple structure at Beersheba, an altar, is mentioned by Jubilees, which describes in some detail the many kinds of sacrifices Abraham made thereon as he celebrated the seven-day Festival of Tabernacles that his posterity would later follow. ^[50] But the rabbis insisted that Abraham observed all the Mosaic laws, including those related to temple. Among the rabbinic texts making this assertion ^[51] is Yoma, the Talmudic tractate describing in detail the all-important temple ritual of the Day of Atonement. Yoma emphasizes that “our father Abraham kept the whole Torah,” not just some of the laws and ordinances, but all of them. ^[52] And his performance thereof was meticulous and exacting, according to ancient sources. ^[53]

Hence, as Hugh Nibley has pointed out, “the works of Abraham center around the Temple.” ^[54] Abraham was rebuilding the city of Zion on the earth following the ancient pattern of Enoch, even while the pretenders to Abraham’s authority were building their imitations. Unlike those ostentatious monarchs, Abraham built no walled city or garrisoned castle or fortress, but an open facility with a door at each point of the compass, inviting all mankind to come and partake of his hospitality and learn of Zion. Most importantly, he built neither a palace nor throne for himself, but rather a temple for the throne of God. Abraham’s entire resources were consecrated to the establishment of Zion.

Foreshadowing the Future Descent of Zion

The pattern of Abraham’s cosmic city of Beersheba looked not only backward but also forward to the latter days, when, as Abraham had read in the patriarchal records, the Lord would gather His people from the four quarters of the earth to Zion, or the New Jerusalem (Moses 7:62), and would make bare his arm in saving them ^[55] and then dine with them in Enoch’s city that would return to the earth. ^[56]

If we have no architectural description of Enoch’s city as it was taken from the earth, we do have a description of it as it will return: it is said in John’s book of Revelation to be “foursquare” with three gates at each point of the compass, for a total of twelve gates — one for each tribe of Israel, Abraham’s twelve great-grandsons by Jacob (Rev. 21:12–16).

Similarly in 1 Enoch, Enoch describes heaven as having a similar distribution of twelve gates, three at each compass point. ^[57] The twelve gates also correspond to Plato’s cosmic city divided into twelve parts for twelve tribes. ^[58] But it is the foursquare structure that remains the critical feature, bespeaking its wholeness and lack of defect, for the square was one of those “ancient symbols that conveyed the notion of divinely wrought perfection.” ^[59] Both architecturally and spiritually, Zion must be built on the principles of exactness and honor. ^[60]

Abraham had seen in vision the future descent of Enoch’s glorious city of Zion, and the closer we look at what Abraham built at Beersheba, the more it reflects that city, not only as it was first built on earth but also as it will come again when the earth will receive her paradisiacal glory and when, as Brigham Young said, “Zion will extend ... all over this earth ... It will all be Zion.” ^[61]