Line Upon Line: Seeing God’s Work Through a 3D Printer

There’s a phrase in scripture that Latter-day Saints hear often: “line upon line, precept upon precept.” We usually think of that phrase as describing how we learn the gospel. Knowledge and understanding come slowly, layer by layer. But recently, while watching a 3D printer quietly building something on my workbench, I started wondering if the metaphor might run deeper than that. Maybe it doesn’t just describe how we learn. Maybe it also describes how God builds us.

Anyone who has spent time around a 3D printer knows the strange fascination of watching it work. At first nothing looks impressive. A nozzle moves back and forth across a build plate, laying down thin lines of molten plastic. It doesn’t look like much. Just lines. Then another layer appears. And another. Eventually the shape begins to emerge, and suddenly what looked random starts to look intentional.

That process reminds me of Isaiah 28:10: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line.” God rarely changes us all at once. Instead He builds patiently, layer by layer.

As someone who spends a lot of time with 3D printers, I know how complicated that process actually is. For a print to succeed, the temperature has to be right. The flow rate has to be correct. The build plate has to be leveled. The speed of the nozzle must match the material. The machine moves along three axes—X, Y, and Z—coordinating thousands of tiny movements. All of those movements are written into lines of machine code that tell the motors exactly when to move and where.

To someone watching from across the room, it might look simple. But the maker knows the enormous complexity behind every layer.

In many ways, that’s what life feels like. We experience only the small area right around us. We can’t see the entire blueprint of what God is building. Isaiah reminds us why: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8–9). The Maker sees the full design. We see only the layer we are living in.

Another thing anyone who prints complex models understands is the need for supports. Some parts of a model can’t just be printed into empty air. They need temporary structures that hold them in place while the real object forms.

Those supports aren’t the final product. In fact, they’re often removed when the print is finished. But without them, the object would collapse.

I’ve come to believe that many moments in our lives are like that. Sometimes we are the structure being built. Other times we are the support holding something steady for someone else.

King Benjamin taught: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17). We may not always understand the role we are playing in the moment. But sometimes our ministry is simply being present while someone else’s life is taking shape.

I’ve seen that principle in my own life in unexpected ways. As a father and now a grandfather, many of the most meaningful moments have come in quiet acts of support—helping a child learn something, sharing a skill, or simply being there when someone needs encouragement.

I’ve also experienced that lesson through running. When I first started training seriously again, progress came slowly. Each run felt like just another small effort. But week after week those small efforts built on each other until I realized I could do things I hadn’t thought possible before.

The same has been true in creative work. Writing, music, building, even 3D printing—none of it happens all at once. Every meaningful project is built layer upon layer.

Elder John C. Pingree Jr. taught that the Lord tells each of us: “I have a work for thee.” That work doesn’t always look dramatic. Often it looks like small acts of service, quiet encouragement, or using the skills and experiences we already have to bless someone else.

Doctrine and Covenants 58:27 teaches us to be “anxiously engaged in a good cause.” We may not know the full blueprint of God’s design, but we can participate in the layer we are currently living.

The perfect example of fulfilling divine work is Jesus Christ. Near the end of His mortal life, the Savior prayed: “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4).

Our missions are not the same as His, but the pattern is similar. We learn. We grow. We serve. Layer by layer we become something new.

In 3D printing, the object and the process are inseparable. The final form only exists because thousands of small lines were placed carefully over time.

Discipleship works the same way. Faith grows line upon line. Character develops line upon line. Christlike love is learned line upon line.

And although we cannot yet see the finished design, we can trust the Master Maker who does.

One day we may finally see the design from above and understand why certain layers were placed where they were. Until then, our responsibility is simple: keep building, keep learning, keep serving—and trust the Builder.