Nice post.
I can't stop thinking about this photo. The Holy of Holies is awesome, but we have seen a photo of it before. This is the very first time we have seen the room between the Holy of Holies and the Celestial Room. You walk up a staircase to get to the Holy of Holies as you walk up staircases throughout the Salt Lake Temple representing ascending towards God. When Talmage described this room he wrote: "The short staircase is broadened by hand-carved balustrades, which terminate in a pair of newel posts bearing bronze figures symbolical of innocent childhood. These support flower clusters, each jeweled blossom enclosing an electric bulb. On the landing at the head of the steps is another archway, beneath which are sliding doors." It looks like it is still a sliding door leading into the Holy of Holies. How cool are these statues though? Talmage describes them as symbols of innocent childhood, which I like, but I would guess they are designed to be cherubim before the doors of the Holy of Holies much like that ancient temple had cherubim stitched into the veil. Their placement at the top of the staircase could draw to mind the angels ascending Jacob's ladder in Genesis.
I do like the idea that they are children though - and, thus, we must become like a child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and that's awesome too.
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