Temples on earth are temporary places of worship where God and Christ may come and dwell as they deem necessary.¹ Earthly temples imperfectly foreshadow² the celestial temple of the entire resurrected earth³ where the full presence of God and Christ will permanently exist.⁴ In this context, the presence of God is synonymous with the glory of God.⁵ Any person enveloped in the fulness of God's glory is in God's presence,⁶ even if that person is far removed from God's physical being.⁷ God's presence is not defined by proximity,⁸ but by a heavenly veil⁹ that can be withdrawn to reveal God's person and glory according to his will.¹⁰

Once this earth fills the measure of its creation and is resurrected,¹¹ it will be glorified by God's presence continually because no veil exists between this celestial earth and God's person.¹² This will always be the case, even though the actual place of God's throne and celestial residence are located on an entirely different glorified earth.¹³ God's glorified earth has existed for eons of time and is the model or pattern for what this earth will become after its resurrection.¹⁴ This resurrected earth will be the place of Christ's throne and his celestial residence,¹⁵ which he will share with exalted persons of this earth who are his joint heirs.¹⁶ The Father and the Son are not confined to remain on their respective residences.¹⁷ They can physically go in person to any world of the celestial kingdom where their full presence (glory) exists.¹⁸

From its earliest beginnings, this earth was destined to become a celestial temple for the full presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ. To this end the Father created Kolob as the first¹⁹ and greatest of all the many spirit worlds in his generation.²⁰ When Jehovah (Jesus Christ) created this physical earth, Kolob became its inward spirit,²¹ making this earth the greatest physical world of all Christ's other worlds.²² At the time of this earth's physical creation, Kolob‒with this earth as its physical exterior‒was located nearest the throne of God.²³ At the fall of Adam, however, this earth fell away from the place of its physical creation near unto God and came to occupy its place in the current solar system.²⁴

When the earth dies and is resurrected as a new heaven and new earth it will be rolled back into the presence of God²⁵ where it was created and located until the fall of Adam.²⁶ From that lofty position, this resurrected and glorified earth will then become the great governing star in the universe that it was destined to become.²⁷ As such, it will be crowned with glory and the full presence of the Father and the Son.²⁸ Celestial saints on this earth will be immersed in their glory²⁹ and will enter into their rest.³⁰ The Father and Son will be the temple of the celestial earth and the saints will worship them in their presence forever.³¹