[2] The temple was built by the Community of Christ in response to a revelation presented at their 1984 World Conference by church prophet-president Wallace B.

[citation needed] The revelation was the culmination of instructions shared over the course of more than 150 years by prior prophet-presidents recognized by the Community of Christ.

[citation needed] The temple was designed by Gyo Obata and evokes the spiral shell of the nautilus with a stainless steel spire that rises 300 feet (91 m).

The entry to the sanctuary is through an etched glass archway depicting the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith had his initial revelatory experience.

At the exit foyer in the mouth of the spiral, "The Field is White, Already to Harvest" (see John: 4:35) is a large stained glass wall depicting rice and wheat, that earned an American Institute of Architects award for religious art.

The temple is regarded as a symbol of the church's mission and has long been closely associated with the denomination's developing theology of Zion, or the peaceable Kingdom of God, first advocated as basileia tou theou by Jesus Christ.