“The Four Beasts”
Doctrine and Covenants 77:2–4
2 Q. What are we to understand by the four beasts, spoken of in the same verse?
A. They are figurative expressions, used by the Revelator, John, in describing heaven, the paradise of God, the happiness of man, and of beasts, and of creeping things, and of the fowls of the air; that which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal; and that which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual; the spirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of the beast, and every other creature which God has created.
3 Q. Are the four beasts limited to individual beasts, or do they represent classes or orders?
A. They are limited to four individual beasts, which were shown to John, to represent the glory of the classes of beings in their destined order or sphere of creation, in the enjoyment of their eternal felicity.
4 Q. What are we to understand by the eyes and wings, which the beasts had?
A. Their eyes are a representation of light and knowledge, that is, they are full of knowledge; and their wings are a representation of power, to move, to act, etc.
The Prophet Joseph Smith said:
“John saw curious looking beasts in heaven—he saw every creature that was in heaven—all the beasts, fowls, and fish in heaven—actually there giving glory to God. . . . I suppose John saw beings there of a thousand forms that had been saved from ten thousand times ten thousand earths like this—strange beasts of which we have no conception—all might be seen in heaven. The grand secret was to show John what there was in heaven: John learned that God glorified Himself by saving all that His hands had made, whether beasts, fowl, fishes, or men, and He will gratify Himself with them. . . . The four beasts were four of the most noble animals that had filled the measure of their creation, and had been saved from other worlds, because they were perfect; they were like angels in their sphere; we are not told where they came from.”
(In Manuscript History of the Church, vol. D-1, page 1523, josephsmithpapers.org.)
