Abraham received the promises of the New and Everlasting Covenant. The Lord said, “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. . . . my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year” (Genesis 17:19,21).
Fast forward a few decades to the ultimate test. In what seems like a contradictory commandment, Abraham is commanded to offer his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering. The Lord said, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of” (Genesis 22:2).
There’s a lot to unpack with this verse. Obviously, Isaac is not Abraham’s only son. He has another son named Ishmael. So, what does the Lord mean by this? The New and Everlasting Covenant is to continue through each successive generation, and the Lord has already said that the covenant would be established through Isaac. There certainly were blessings proceeding through the lineage of Ishmael. The Lord promised, “Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation” (Genesis 17:20). Then the Lord goes on to say, “But my covenant will I establish with Isaac” (Genesis 17:21). Isaac is the “only son” of the covenant. Also, the typology is evident right off the bat. This sacrifice “is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son” (Jacob 4:5).
Abraham and Sarah have waited a long time for this promised son. They love him beyond measure. And isn’t that the point of this test? The Lord has said, “Yet I will own them, and they shall be mine in that day when I shall come to make up my jewels. Therefore, they must needs be chastened and tried, even as Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his only son” (D&C 101:3-4). The Hebrew word for jewel is cegullah, and it means “valued property or a peculiar treasure.” The Lord treasures you and is in relentless pursuit of you! To become a jewel, we must be refined and tested according to the law of sacrifice. The Lord might even ask us to be willing to sacrifice even that which we love the most.
This sacrifice is a burnt offering. This means that the whole animal is burned on the altar. The Lord is asking us to sacrifice the animalistic, or natural man (or woman) instincts within in favor of the companionship of the Spirit. The Hebrew word for burnt offering is `olah, meaning to go up or ascend. This refers to the smoke of the sacrifice, representing our own will and desires, which ascends up to the Lord, creating a “sweet savor” (Leviticus 1:9). I like to think of this as my will going up in smoke. The burnt offering (olah) is the perfect symbol of surrender. Abraham is willing to surrender what he loves the most. In the temple, we “ascend into the hill of the Lord” (Psalm 24:3). And speaking of the temple, the Jewish historian, Josephus, said that this Mount Moriah, where Abraham is commanded to sacrifice Isaac, is the Temple Mount where Solomon built the temple (See also 2 Chronicles 3:1).
As Abraham and Isaac are going to the sacrifice, Isaac asks, “Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham answers, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” The Lamb of God would provide the ultimate sacrifice. In ancient sacrifices, there was a sacrificer, who would bring the sacrificial animal to the door of the tabernacle or courtyard of the temple. In earlier times, the sacrificer would slay the animal. There was also the priest, who would collect the blood and offer the animal upon the altar. And, of course, the was the animal being sacrificed. Jesus fulfilled all three roles as Sacrificer, High Priest, and the Sacrifice.
I am attaching the Foundation Stone video once again, since Mount Moriah was the site of the first temple, and also the Foundation Stone, which was the first spot of land to emerge after the waters of chaos receded during the Creation, according to Jewish tradition. See also Ether 13:2-6 for a fun comparison of this Jewish belief.