In my blog series here, I discuss gene-culture coevolution and argue that certain personalities and character traits were selected for during the 1800s when plural marriage (i.e. polygamy was practiced among Mormons). Thus there was a type of funneling process where difficult, disagreeable, and unfriendly types chose (and choose today) not to be part of the LDS fold; and so over time there was a filtering in of mostly happy, strong, agreeable and civilized type people into Mormonism, so that the early LDS polygamists unintentionally selectively bred a kind of quasi-ethnicity as a cultural identity that became known as the "Mormons."
In the book Joseph smith's Quorum of the Anointed, in the forward Todd Compton basically confirms what I think which is that the priesthood is in part connected to plural marriage which we see with Abraham 2:11, as Compton writes on pages 4-6 (emphasis added):
Foreword by Todd Compton
This is an important book, documenting a key chapter in Latter-day Saint history that few Mormons know about. The Quorum of Anointed (also known as the Holy Order) was the secret, elite group which founding prophet Joseph Smith organized and to which he revealed for the first time the ordinances of washing and anointing, the endowment, and the “fullness of the priesthood”—the foundation of modern LDS temple ritual. …
… Joseph Smith undoubtedly stood at the center of things; around him revolved a number of social circles, many of them secret, that only occasionally intersected. There was the extremely secret inner circle of those who had been introduced to, and were beginning to practice, plural marriage; there was the Council of Fifty, the sub rosa political kingdom of the church, which would privately crown Joseph Smith king of the theocratic kingdom of God. … the women’s Relief Society, led by Emma Smith, who was generally an opponent of polygamy and did not know of many of her husband’s plural marriages; and her counselors, Elizabeth Whitney, the mother of one of Joseph’s wives, and Sarah Cleveland, herself a wife of Joseph. Finally, there was the circle documented in this book, the Holy Order, the Quorum of the Anointed, sometimes simply called the priesthood, intersecting with all these groups. …
… The editors of this volume suggest that the Quorum of the Anointed [again, “sometimes simply called the priesthood”], to which Joseph Smith introduced the LDS temple rites, was closely connected to his introduction of plural marriage to his most trusted disciples. The Quorum of the Anointed facilitated the teaching of secrecy; and Joseph’s polygamy, which could have had disastrous legal implications and caused adverse publicity if it became public knowledge, was one of the main reasons secrecy was needed. In addition, sometimes the reward of entering the quorum gave Mormons motivation for accepting polygamy.
Thus the priesthood was connected to plural marriage as the keys to raise up a righteous seed, seed meaning a Peoplehood (a Mormon People), just as Abraham's seed raised up the Israelites; and Jesus’ supernatural seed was implanted in multiple Brides/Christians who receive his divine sperma/DNA as pneuma (pronounced nooma). Thus, just as Jesus supernaturally seeded multiple brides (Christians), breeding a Christian People (i.e. the Jesus People), the priesthood is the Order of the Son of God (see D&C 107:3) as it is the order of seeding a People (see Abraham 2:11) which is ultimately a Circle of Friends: “... I [Christ] say unto you, my friends, for from henceforth I shall call you friends ..” (D&C 84:77; compare John 15:15). So after Christ repeatedly refers to LDS Christians as his friends in scripture, we then read about the greeting ritual of the LDS School of the Prophets in D&C 88 (emphasis added):
3 Wherefore, I [Christ] now send upon you another Comforter, even upon you my friends, that it may abide in your hearts, even the Holy Spirit of promise; ...
62 And again, verily I say unto you, my friends, I leave these sayings …
117 Therefore, verily I say unto you, my friends, call your solemn assembly, …
127 And again, the order of the house prepared for the presidency of the school of the prophets, established for their instruction in all things that are expedient for them, even for all the officers of the church, or in other words, those who are called to the ministry in the church, beginning at the high priests, even down to the deacons—
128 And this shall be the order of the house of the presidency of the school:
130 And when he cometh into the house of God, for he should be first in the house—behold, this is beautiful, that he may be an example—
131 Let him offer himself in prayer upon his knees before God, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant.
132 And when any shall come in after him, let the teacher arise, and, with uplifted hands to heaven, yea, even directly, salute his brother or brethren with these words:
133 Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving, forever and ever. Amen.
In The Grand Fundamental Principles of Mormonism: Joseph Smith's Unfinished Reformation, author Don Bradley argues that Joseph Smith was seeking to build a society of genuine friends bonded in friendship. One way to do this was through marriages between families through plural marriages where everyone is interconnected as sons in law and fathers in law and mothers in law and daughters in law, etc.; as a circle of friends seeking to build Zion by producing a righteous seed (a quasi-ethnic encultured Mormon People). This is why Don Bradley has recently argued as of 2023 (see this Ward Radio podcast episode starting at the 15 minute mark), that new research reveals Joseph’s motivations for plural marriage had more to do with generating a circle of friends bonded together through celestial sealings: as in many cases he was plurally married to women who were already months into a pregnancy and about to give birth to another man's child, and in that culture in the 1800s pregnant women did not have sex; and thus those particular polyandrous plural marriages would have most likely been sexless marriage sealings for eternity only. So obviously there was a different motive for such sealings which Bradley discusses.
If we then consider the motivations for temple rituals like baptism for the dead which was ultimately about bonding the dead to the living as eternal friends and brothers/sisters in the celestial realm; just as Joseph saw in vision his deceased brother Alvin in heaven. So sealings of deceased fathers to sons, deceased siblings to siblings, generated a great Chain of Belonging.
