The Lord has made it clear that we can be together in eternity with our companion only if we abide the law. In modern revelation He says:
"Prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same.
"For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant" (D&C 132:3–4).
Every member of the Church should read and study section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Do you realize that there is no one between the Lord and the sealer when he performs the sealing ordinance? It is a beautiful and a touching ceremony.
The deep underlying purpose of temple marriage was clarified by the Redeemer Himself when He said, "As pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant [of marriage], it was instituted for the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned" (D&C 132:6).
The Lord also said, "Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world" (D&C 132:15).
Do we realize that in the Doctrine and Covenants we are told that unless we enter into celestial marriage, we cannot reach the highest degree of glory in the celestial kingdom (see D&C 131:1–4)? It is also clear what will happen to those who never receive the blessings of temple marriage: their binding is until death do they part—a very sad thing to contemplate.
The aim of the gospel and the purpose of celestial marriage are not only to keep us together but also to make us eligible for our Heavenly Father's highest reward: exaltation in the celestial kingdom, increase in that kingdom, and eternal life with our families.