The opening verse in Moses 1 begins with, “The words of God, which he spake unto Moses at a time when Moses was caught up into an exceedingly high mountain.” This mirrors other “high mountain” temple-like experiences such as Enoch in Moses 7:3, Nephi in 1 Nephi 11:1, and the brother of Jared in Ether 3:1.
This can be best described as “the cosmic mountain.” It represents the center of the world and becomes a sacred axis (axis mundi) connecting heaven and earth, the place where the divine meets humanity, and the source of creation.
Enoch describes his experience as being “clothed upon with glory.” Moses said he could endure God’s presence because the glory of God was upon him.
It is appropriate that the cosmic mountain is the source of creation, because Moses is about to see God’s creations “but not all” (Moses 1:4). The cosmic mountain becomes a temple, or that sacred space where heaven meets earth.
Moses sees God’s works expanding before his eyes. What he is really seeing is the inside of the veil. The brother of Jared “could not be kept from beholding within the
After seeing God’s vast creations and all the inhabitants of the earth, the presence of God withdrew from Moses, and he was left in his mortal, fallen state. When this happens, the initiate feels weakened and it takes some time for him to regain his “natural strength” (Moses 1:10).
From this fallen, mortal perspective, Moses, and we, can feel very insignificant. We can feel like a grain of sand on an endless beach. It can feel like God’s too busy to worry about me.
But God addresses Moses as His son with a specific work to fulfill. He is told he is in the similitude of His Only Begotten Son, who is Jehovah, and the attributes of grace and truth are applied to the Only Begotten Son and since Moses is in His similitude, he also can inherit the same attributes of the Son!
Inside the veil, all things can be seen. God said, “All things are present with me,” as He “looked upon the expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic of heaven” (Moses 1:6; Doctrine and Covenants 38:1).
Moses said, “Now, for this cause I know that is , which thing I never had supposed (verse 10). It is usually at this time of identity crisis that Satan enters the scene, addressing Moses as “son of man,” void of divine characteristics. Remember, God addressed him as “my son.” But for Moses, it’s like night and day. He has experienced a transfiguration to be able to stand in the presence of God, or even to see His face. Moses asked Satan, “Where is thy glory?” Where is your power? This encounter does not require a transfiguration, but can be seen by the natural man. After Moses saw “the bitterness of hell,” and through the power of the priesthood and in the name of the Only Begotten Son, Satan was cast out.
Moses has experienced macro vision as he saw the vastness of God’s creation. Now he will experience micro vision. Moses gets to see the earth, not as a giant planet, but he sees every particle and every little grain of sand, “discerning it by the Spirit of God.” Then he sees every inhabitant of the earth by the same Spirit (verses 27-28).
He has come full circle. He once felt insignificant but now sees every precious particle and every precious son or daughter beloved of God!
He hears the oft-quoted declaration from God, “For behold, this is my and my —to bring to pass the and of man.” (Moses 1:39).