“And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves; and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence.
And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.” -Doctrine and Covenants 133:26-27
The meaning behind these verses has given rise to a lot of speculation about the lost tribes and their location. Based on the language that is used, it is easy to assume that the North countries refers to somewhere in the vicinity of the North Pole and that the reference to rocks being smitten and the ice flowing down at the presence of the lost tribes tells us that they’re somehow living inside the polar ice caps.
However, according to early leaders of the church the lost tribes were taken far beyond the North Pole.
According to Orson Pratt:
“The Prophet Joseph once in my hearing advanced his opinion that the Ten Tribes were separated from the Earth: or a portion of the Earth was by a miracle broken off, and that the Ten Tribes were taken away with it, and that in the latter days it would be restored to the Earth or be let down in the Polar regions. Whether the Prophet founded his opinion upon revelation or whether it was a matter of mere speculation with him, I am not able to say.”
Parley P. Pratt:
“The stars which will fall to the earth, are fragments, which have been broken off from time to time…some with the ten tribes…These all must be restored again at the “times of restitution of all things.” This will restore the ten tribes of Israel…”
Wilford Woodruff:
“The leaders upon their return from Provo made a visit to Logan. Here, President Young is quoted as saying that the ten tribes of Israel are on a portion of the earth--a portion separated from the main land.”
and Eliza R. Snow, a wife of the prophet Joseph Smith, wrote the following verses for a church hymn:
“When Enoch could no longer stay
Amid corruption here,
Part of thyself was borne away
To form another sphere.
That portion where his city stood
He gain'd by right approv'd;
And nearer to the throne of God
His planet upward moved.
And when the Lord saw fit to hide
The "ten lost tribes" away,
Thou, Earth, wast sever'd to provide
The orb on which they stay.”
Pinpointing the location of the “North Countries,” if this phrase refers to somewhere in space, is probably going to require some additional information. However, the phrase “and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence” is interesting when you consider our modern understanding of the solar system.
In 1992 a small object was discovered beyond the orbit of Neptune which was also circling our sun. This discovery lead to the realization that our solar system is surrounded by large chunks of ice and at least three dwarf planets: Pluto, Haumea and Makemake. There is also evidence that suggests that an earth sized planet, dubbed Planet 9, is lurking in these outer regions which scientists have named “The Kuiper Belt.”
These chunks of ice are relatively stable but all it would take is a little nudge, say from a chunk of our planet or a city named Enoch returning to earth, to send them charging towards the solar system's center of gravity, the sun, with our planet sitting helplessly in their path. A Bird's Eye view of this event would look like an icy road had formed across the deep chasm of space creating a bridge between the edge and center of our solar system reflecting the verse following the description of the return of the ten tribes “And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.”
Everything I’ve said here is based on the assumption that “the North Countries,” “rocks,” “ice,” “highway” and “great deep” all refer to things in space, which isn’t too much of a stretch considering the quotes above from our early church leaders suggesting that the return of the lost tribes will be a cosmological event rather than an earthly one. It’s also helpful to consider that many of the events discussed in this section of the Doctrine and Covenants take place outside of our planet including angels flying in the midst of heaven and the return of the Lord from the “regions which are not known.”
Of course, this theory could be completely wrong and the 10 tribes could be on some undiscovered part of this planet, either way, their return is going to be nothing short of miraculous.
