This afternoon, the new altar was used
for the first time, and four individuals and their wives were sealed. The altar
is about two and one half feet high and two and one half feet long about one
foot wide, rising from a platform about 8 or 9 inches inch and extending out on
all sides about a foot, forming a convenient place to kneel upon. The top of
the altar and the platform for kneeling upon are covered with cushions of
scarlet damask cloth; the sides of the upright part or body of the altar are
covered with white linen. (Brigham Young, January 6, 1846, in Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 1846-1847, comp. Elden J. Watson [Salt Lake City:
Elden J. Watson, 1971], 8)