Zion means sunny mountain and fortress.¹ Depending on the context, however, Zion can have different meanings.² For example, Zion is the name for the ancient city of Enoch, whose righteous citizens were taken to heaven before the flood.³ In this connection Zion came to mean the city of holiness and perfection.⁴ Long after the time of Enoch, Zion was the name for the ancient city of David in 2 Samuel 5:7.⁵ At that time, an impenetrable fortress of the Jebusites stood on a hill called Zion.⁶ David defeated the Jebusites and then erected the Israelite tabernacle on that same hill to house the ark of the covenant at Zion.⁷ When Solomon's temple was built on mount Moriah the name of Zion shifted to that holy mountain.⁸ Zion has also been used to identify the entire city of Jerusalem.⁹ All of North and South America is also called Zion.¹⁰ However, modern geographical references to Zion usually mean the New Jerusalem in Jackson County, Missouri,¹¹ and surrounding locations such as Adam-ondi-Ahman.¹² Zion is also a name for the pure in heart.¹³ Righteous members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that make and keep temple covenants are Zion.¹⁴ Exaltation-worthy saints in all ages are described as a Zion people.¹⁵ At the Second Coming, members of the Church of the Firstborn‒that is the 144,000 Servants in John's visions‒will stand as a Zion people with Jesus Christ on mount Zion in Revelation 14:1.¹⁶

In July 1831, the Lord identified Independence, Jackson County, Missouri as the center place of Zion¹⁷ and the location for the New Jerusalem (Zion).¹⁸ Following this revelation, Joseph Smith dedicated the temple lot at Independence on August 3, 1831.¹⁹ Latter-day Saints immediately began to gather to Missouri²⁰ as the land of Zion and the place of their inheritance.²¹ They purchased large tracts of land²² as directed by the Lord,²³ with the expectation that they would quickly²⁴ build the New Jerusalem.²⁵ Unfortunately, they were unworthy to do so at that time²⁶ because they failed to live the celestial law of consecration²⁷ as commanded by the Lord.²⁸

The law of consecration required the saints to consecrate their time, talents, and property to build the kingdom of God and to establish Zion.²⁹ When the saints lacked faith and were disobedient to this law,³⁰ the Lord empowered the original settlers in Missouri³¹ to maliciously persecute the saints.³² The Lord foresaw this situation and called the Missouri residents enemies even before the saints began gathering to the state in 1831.³³ By 1839, the saints were forced to flee Missouri entirely³⁴ under the threat of an extermination order issued by Governor Lilburn L. Boggs.³⁵ The saints abandoned the land of their inheritance,³⁶ but not their resolve to one day redeem Zion without the shedding of blood.³⁷

After the saints were forced from Jackson County in 1833,³⁸ the Lord no longer required members of the church to live the celestial law of consecration.³⁹ Instead, the Lord gave the lesser law of tithing to the church in 1838⁴⁰ as a schoolmaster to replace the higher law of consecration.⁴¹ There are obvious similarities between these events in Missouri and the children of Israel in the days of Moses who gathered at mount Sinai to receive the higher law of Jehovah, but were unworthy to receive it and received the lesser law of Moses instead. The lesser law of tithing remains in effect today, but the land of Zion will only be redeemed when church members, as citizens and heirs of Zion,⁴² make and keep a covenant with God⁴³ to live the higher law of consecration.⁴⁴ Only then will the city of New Jerusalem be built with its temple at Independence, Missouri.⁴⁵ Zion cannot be redeemed on any other principle,⁴⁶ including the law of tithing.⁴⁷ In temples today, the saints make a covenant to accept the law of consecration and to live that law in a future day.⁴⁸ When that day comes in the Lord's own due time,⁴⁹ the saints must rise above past failings⁵⁰ and live the celestial law of consecration as a prerequisite to redeeming Zion.⁵¹

Before Zion is redeemed, the saints must also be chastened⁵² and pass through tribulation⁵³ for a little season.⁵⁴ The little season of chastening that began in the 1830's will continue until after the opening of the seventh seal⁵⁵ and after the saints of all ages gather to Adam-ondi-Ahman at the midpoint of Physical Armageddon (Second Woe).⁵⁶ The gathering of ancient Israel at mount Sinai foreshadows the future gathering of saints at Adam-ondi-Ahman.⁵⁷ The gathering at Sinai occurred after Israel was chastened 400 years in Egypt.⁵⁸ At Adam-ondi-Ahman, Latter-day Saints will receive the higher law of consecration⁵⁹ that ancient Israel was unprepared to receive.⁶⁰

Exaltation-worthy saints at Adam-ondi-Ahman will also be crowned kings and queens in the kingdom of Zion⁶¹ and will therefore have the right to physically possess the land of Zion in Missouri as part of their kingdom and inheritance.⁶² They will be crowned and receive their inheritance only after the Lord's chastening has first prepared⁶³ and sanctified them.⁶⁴ Once they are purified and make a covenant of consecration at Adam-ondi-Ahman,⁶⁵ the land of Zion will then be cleansed.⁶⁶ The Lord will cut short his work in righteousness,⁶⁷ which means the righteousness of the saints will cause the Lord to hasten his work to build the New Jerusalem and the temple at Independence, Missouri.⁶⁸ This is the meaning of the Lord's parable of Zion found in Doctrine and Covenants Section 101.⁶⁹

The redemption of Zion will begin in earnest after the future gathering of saints at Adam-ondi-Ahman,⁷⁰ which will occur 3½ years before the Second Coming.⁷¹ At that time, the whole world will be engaged in the battle of Armageddon in one degree or another.⁷² There will be peace, however, among the citizens of Zion in Missouri.⁷³ In Missouri, the sanctified saints will redeem Zion⁷⁴ by purchasing properties without the shedding of blood.⁷⁵ With this end in mind, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has already begun to redeem the land of Zion through the purchase of properties in Missouri.⁷⁶ The purchase of property in Zion is part of the process for the physical gathering of Israel that is to be done without haste.⁷⁷

Doctrine and Covenants 103:16-18 states that immediately after the gathering at Adam-ondi-Ahman, when the land of Zion is redeemed and the saints are ready to settle the land, the Lord will "raise up unto [his] people a man, who shall lead them like as Moses led the children of Israel."⁷⁸ This modern Moses⁷⁹ will undoubtedly be the prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,⁸⁰ unless another is appointed to this calling during the transfer of priesthood keys at Adam-ondi-Ahman.⁸¹ The president of the church currently holds the keys once held by Moses for the gathering of Israel.⁸² He, as the modern Moses, will call on Latter-day Saints to physically flee from Babylon and gather to Zion in Missouri,⁸³ just as Moses called on Israel to leave Egypt and gather to the promised land in Canaan.⁸⁴ Moses used plagues to bring Israel from the physical bondage of Egypt⁸⁵ and the plagues of the seventh seal will likewise motivate Latter-day Saints to flee from the physical and spiritual bondage of Modern Babylon.⁸⁶ In the modern exodus to Missouri, God and his angel⁸⁷ will go before the sanctified saints⁸⁸ to redeem the land through the power of God.⁸⁹

The ancient Israelites wandered 40 years in the wilderness because they were unworthy of the higher law offered to them at mount Sinai,⁹⁰ and then they had to fight their way into the promised land with the Lord's help for many years.⁹¹ The latter-day redemption of Zion will be completely opposite. The Latter-day Saints will accept the Lord's higher law at Adam-ondi-Ahman and will, therefore, immediately possess their promised land without bloodshed. At that time the saints will begin to construct the New Jerusalem (Zion)⁹² and her temple⁹³ in Jackson County, Missouri.⁹⁴