Alma 13:2 - What is "the Order of His Son"?

Alma 13:2 states, "And those priests were ordained after the order of his Son, in a manner that thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption." A footnote in this verse takes us to D&C 107:3-4, and these verses explain that "before [Melchizedek's] day [the Melchizedek Priesthood] was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God. But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek, or the Melchizedek Priesthood."

So the Order of the Son of God refers to the Melchizedek Priesthood, and this order allows people to look forward to Christ redeeming their sins. This order involves "being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; [being] called with a holy calling . . . which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such" (Alma 13:3). The order has existed from the foundation of the world, or in other words, it is "without beginning of days or end of years" (Alma 13:7). The holy calling and blessings of the Melchizedek Priesthood are established by God's foreknowledge of all things and are given to those who exert faith and good works.

The Melchizedek Priesthood is given "through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son, who was prepared" (Alma 13:5). Those ordained unto this high priesthood are obligated to "teach his commandments . . . that they also might enter into his rest" (Alma 13:6). The holy order of the Son is given to those who choose righteousness, and their garments are "sanctified [and] washed white through the blood of the Lamb" (Alma 13:11). In order to receive the blessings of the Holy Order, we must "humble [ourselves] before God, and bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that [we] may also enter into that rest" (Alma 13:13).

Why was this holy order named after the priest Melchizedek?

According to Alma 13:15-19, Melchizedek was the priest to whom Abraham paid tithing (which is one ordinance given by the Order of the Son of God). Melchizedek was king of Salem, and he established peace among the people who had previously been unrighteous. He was called the "prince of peace" and "none were greater" than he was (Alma 13:18-19).

Jesus Christ has also been referred to as the "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6, 2 Nephi 19:6), so perhaps because both Melchizedek and Christ are given the same label, the Holy Order of the Son of God is named after Melchizedek.