They told me Love was bound by law,by covenant, by whispered awe.That only keys in hallowed handscould thread the ties of shifting sands. They warned of doors that lock and fade,of veils unpierced, of debts unpaid.A family lost, a Love denied—unless I bowed, unless I tried. But Love is not a fragile thread,nor bound by [...]
The "new" union-covenant with God is found inward, not outward.
I believe Joseph Smith, and perhaps his associates, accessed the higher Christian "new covenant" long before the temple ordinances were ever introduced, even as early as the First Vision. The confusion, as I understand it, is that access to that higher covenant is not through carnal commandments and ordinances, not even those within the temple on Earth.