a pile of plates as much as two feet high

When Joseph got the plates, the angel instructed him to carry them back to the hill Cumorah, which he did. Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun, or artificial light; but it was just as light as day. They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room more plates than, probably, many wagon loads; they were piled up in the corners and along the walls. The first time they went there, the sword of Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went again, it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it were written these words, ‘This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and His Christ.’ I take the liberty of referring to those things so that they will not be forgotten and lost. Carlos Smith was a young man of as much veracity as any young man had, and he was a witness to these things. Samuel Smith saw some things, and Hyrum saw a good many things, but Joseph was the leader.


Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. XIX., p.38 as found in Doctrine and Covenants Commentary by Hyrum M. Smith and Janne M. Sjodahl. Deseret Book. 1965. p.47