The book tells the story of Operation Auca, an attempt by five American missionaries – Jim Elliot (the author's husband), Pete Flemming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian – to reach the Huaorani tribe of eastern Ecuador.

[citation needed] The title of the book is derived from the fourth stanza of the hymn "We Rest on Thee".

This hymn was famously sung by the missionaries before the men left for Waodaoni territory in September 1955.

The original edition of the book was published in 1957, one year before the first peaceful contact with the Huaorani was made.

The film recounts the story of Through Gates of Splendor, but from the perspective of Steve Saint (the son of Nate Saint, one of the missionaries killed in the encounter) as well as from Mincavani, one of the tribesmen who took part in the attack.