Anyone whose association with God is based upon their affiliation with a “holy city” misses the mark. Living in ancient Jerusalem, or modern-day Salt Lake City, is no reflection of your worth before God. It is not geography that matters. Nor is it any kind of “status” that counts. Everyone must live lives of devotion. No one can rely on others, or claim their “status” as their vindication. President J. Reuben Clark taught a similar concept. After recounting the travails of the valiant pioneers who came across the plains in the forced exodus of the early Saints, he commented about us:
"In living our lives let us never forget that the deeds of our fathers and mothers are theirs, not ours; that their works cannot be counted to our glory; that we can claim no excellence and no place, because of what they did, that we must rise by our own labor, and that labor failing we shall fail. We may claim no honor, no reward, no respect, nor special position or recognition, no credit because of what our fathers were or what they wrought. We stand upon our own feet in our own shoes. There is no aristocracy of birth in this Church; it belongs equally to the highest and the lowliest; for as Peter said to Cornelius, the Roman centurion, seeking him: “…Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. (Acts 10:34, 35.)” (They of the Last Wagon, President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Conference Report, October 1947, Afternoon Meeting, p.160; emphasis added.)
The reference to the “holy city” in this verse should not be thought of in limited, geographic terms. It is anything outward, any position or status which is used to claim righteousness, without regard to the heart. You should not think a calling makes you more than you are. It is your heart alone which gets weighed in the balance.
Living near a Temple does not make a person morally worthy. Carrying a temple recommend will not matter either, because there are many who profane their Temple covenants while holding current recommends. It is our actual standing before God which qualifies us for the blessings He offers. Relying upon others, or upon our status, or our genealogy will disappoint us in the end. Nephi is writing to us, trying to get us to reflect soberly on our worthiness.
His message should challenge anyone who presumes they have true religion. He wants to stir us up to deep reflection about the real Gospel, and what it requires of us. It is not enough to claim religion and virtue. These people Nephi addresses (us), insist they are residents of the Holy City. But they are not holy themselves. Zoning alone will never bring a soul back to God’s presence, so we ought to disabuse ourselves of such a notion.