Wilford Woodruff, in his “Book of Revelations,” recorded Joseph as teaching that
their were many mansions even 12 from the abode of Devils
to the Celestial glory All Spirits that have bodies have power over those that
have not hence men have power over Devils &c (Discourse,
30 January 1842, p. 4)
Commenting on this, Drew
Briney noted that:
The identity of the twelve kingdoms is uncertain. We can
reasonably deduce nine as follows (assuming the above-referenced kingdoms
quality as “Celestial Glory”: Father, Savior, Holy Ghost (according to the
above passages), three celestial kingdoms (D&C 131), terrestrial, telestial
(D&C 76), three more (unidentified kingdoms), abode of devils (which would
contain more than one kingdom). We can speculate beyond that, but arguments for
and against various propositions are many are without revelation to guide the
debate. (Drew Briney, Joseph Smith’s Doctrines and Insights: The Forgotten
Teachings [Hindsight Publications, 2024], 774 n. 1272)
This is important for the debate as to whether D&C 131 is teaching about the three tiers within the Celestial Kingdom or "celestial" is being used in a more generic sense of heavenly, and the three heavens or degrees in verse 1 are the Telestial, Terrestrial, and Celestial Kingdoms.
