If you could hie to Kolob
In the twinkling of an eye,
And then continue onward
With that same speed to fly,
Do you think that you could ever,
Through all eternity,
Find out the generation
Where Gods began to be?
Meditation: The journey begins with a question that stretches the mind to its limits. Kolob — described in Abraham 3:3 as "the great one" near the throne of God. If you could travel there instantly, and keep going at that impossible speed forever... could you find the beginning? The hymn starts by suggesting: probably not.
VERSE II
Or see the grand beginning,
Where space did not extend?
Or view the last creation,
Where Gods and matter end?
Methinks the Spirit whispers,
"No man has found 'pure space,'
Nor seen the outside curtains,
Where nothing has a place."
Meditation: "Where space did not extend" — a pre-Big Bang concept, 150 years before modern cosmology. The "outside curtains" beyond which there is nothing. Phelps imagines asking the Spirit, who gently answers: no one has found the edge. Because there isn't one.
VERSE III
The works of God continue,
And worlds and lives abound;
Improvement and progression
Have one eternal round.
There is no end to matter;
There is no end to space;
There is no end to spirit;
There is no end to race.
Meditation: The great declaration: everything is eternal. Matter. Space. Spirit. And "race" — the family of God, extending infinitely. "One eternal round" — not a line with a beginning and end, but a circle, a cycle, an eternal process of becoming.
VERSE IV
There is no end to virtue;
There is no end to might;
There is no end to wisdom;
There is no end to light.
There is no end to union;
There is no end to youth;
There is no end to priesthood;
There is no end to truth.
Meditation: Eight "no ends" — a litany of eternities. Virtue never runs out. Power never diminishes. Knowledge never stops growing. Light never fades. Connection never breaks. Youth — eternal vitality — never ages. Authority never expires. And truth? Truth is forever.
VERSE V
There is no end to glory;
There is no end to love;
There is no end to being;
There is no death above.
There is no end to glory;
There is no end to love;
There is no end to being;
There is no death above.
Meditation: The climax, repeated for emphasis. Glory — the radiant presence of God. Love — the binding force of eternity. Being — existence itself. And the final triumph: "no death above." In the celestial realm, the thing that ends everything here... simply doesn't exist there.
A Note on Kolob
In LDS theology, Kolob is a star (or planet) described in the Book of Abraham as being nearest to the throne of God. Its time runs differently — one day on Kolob equals 1,000 years on Earth (Abraham 3:4). The hymn uses Kolob not as a destination, but as a launching point for contemplating infinity.
"Do you think that you could ever, through all eternity, find out the generation where Gods began to be?"
The answer, of course, is no. And that's the point. Infinity isn't a problem to solve. It's a wonder to inhabit.