The world general conference of the Church convening this weekend in Salt Lake City will likely go down in history as the occasion when the Salt Lake Tabernacle was re-dedicated after the first major renovation in its history.

Since its construction, virtually all general conferences have originated in the Tabernacle until the completion of the Conference Center in 2000. The first conference in the Tabernacle was held in the partially completed building 140 years ago, in 1867. The Tabernacle was completed in 1875.

The Tabernacle rededication can bring to mind the symbolic importance of building and construction in our teaching. We often say that by means of the sermons and other proceedings at conference, we are "edified," a word that shares a common etymology with the term edifice, and which carries the connotation of being built up and improved.

Construction imagery is prominent in the scriptures. Paul taught that the church is "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone;

"In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord" (Ephesians 2:19-20).

The cornerstone concept is so persistent in our Church tradition that, in an age of steel-frame construction, we still hold cornerstone ceremonies attendant to the dedication of new temples. This harkens back to the past when a building was indeed erected from the ground up upon a foundation with the chief cornerstone being the point from which the building's dimensions were reckoned. Thus, apostles and prophets reckon their leadership and teachings from the precepts and revelation given by Christ Himself.

In an interesting enlargement upon the analogy, President Gordon B. Hinckley has suggested that with Christ as the chief cornerstone, the other three cornerstones of faith are Joseph Smith's first vision, the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the priesthood (see "Four Cornerstones of Faith," Ensign, February 2004, pp. 2-7).

Could the analogy of a building be carried further still? If Christ and the apostles and prophets are the chief cornerstone and foundation of the Church, to what might we liken the walls of the building? Perhaps we can turn to another of Paul's pronouncements for an answer.

Listing some of the offices of the priesthood, he said these were given "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12, emphasis added). The walls of a building, then, might be analogous to the administrative and ecclesiastical structure of the Church, with its various priesthood offices, quorums and ordinances, its system of presidencies and councils, its auxiliary organizations, its instructional curriculum, its missionary work, its welfare plan, its family history activities and temple work. These are what give shape, energy and application to the gospel of Christ. These are what bring souls to Christ.

There is yet another vital part of a building, to which we have not yet drawn a symbolic parallel: the roof. Consider the function of a roof: It is to shelter, protect and cover. The individual and collective righteousness of Latter-day Saints might be likened to the roof of our building. This is what protects us from the adversary and the misery and bondage to which he would subject us. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7) is the assurance we are given in the scriptures. "Keep the commandments! In this there is safety; in this there is peace" are the words in a popular Primary song (Children's Songbook, pp. 146-147).

As the Salt Lake Tabernacle has stood and blessed us for the past 140 years, may the Church, which is nothing less than the kingdom of God on earth, continue to stand into perpetuity, preparing us for exaltation and preparing the way for the millennial reign of our Lord and Savior.