It appears that the Prophet learned much about temple ordinances through personal experiences with heavenly beings and revelations associated with his inspired translation of scripture. His revelations contain many unmistakable references to significant components of priesthood and temple doctrines, authority, and ordinances. Many of these date to the early 1830s, a decade or more before the Prophet began bestowing temple blessings on the Saints in Nauvoo. And given Joseph Smith’s reluctance to share the details of sacred events and doctrines publicly, it is certainly possible he received specific knowledge about some temple matters even earlier than can now be documented. These matters include: (1) the narrative backbone, clothing, and covenants of the modern LDS temple endowment; (2) the sequence of blessings of the oath and covenant of the priesthood, including ordinances received after the endowment; and (3) priesthood keys symbolized in words, signs, and tokens.

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What did Joseph Smith know about modern temple ordinances by 1836? Plenty, it seems. If it weren’t for the additional significant event of April 3, 1836, when Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared to the Prophet in the Kirtland Temple to restore priesthood keys, we could have almost given the terminus post quem for Joseph Smith’s knowledge of the doctrines and principles relating to temple matters we have outlined at a point three years earlier, 1833. And given Joseph Smith’s disinclination to share the details of the most sacred events and doctrines publicly, it is certainly possible that he received specific knowledge about the temple matters discussed above even earlier than that.