Abraham 3:3
3 And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.

Abraham 3:4
4 And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest. This is the reckoning of the Lord's time, according to the reckoning of Kolob.

Abraham 3:9
9 And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord's time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.

Abraham 3:16
16 If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them; therefore Kolob is the greatest of all the Kokaubeam that thou hast seen, because it is nearest unto me.

Fig. 1. Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God. First in government, the last pertaining to the measurement of time. The measurement according to celestial time, which celestial time signifies one day to a cubit. One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years according to the measurement of this earth, which is called by the Egyptians Jah-oh-eh.

Fig. 2. Stands next to Kolob, called by the Egyptians Oliblish, which is the next grand governing creation near to the celestial or the place where God resides; holding the key of power also, pertaining to other planets; as revealed from God to Abraham, as he offered sacrifice upon an altar, which he had built unto the Lord.

Fig. 3. Is made to represent God, sitting upon his throne, clothed with power and authority; with a crown of eternal light upon his head; representing also the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed.

Fig. 4. Answers to the Hebrew word Raukeeyang, signifying expanse, or the firmament of the heavens; also a numerical figure, in Egyptian signifying one thousand; answering to the measuring of the time of Oliblish, which is equal with Kolob in its revolution and in its measuring of time.

Fig. 5. Is called in Egyptian Enish-go-on-dosh; this is one of the governing planets also, and is said by the Egyptians to be the Sun, and to borrow its light from Kolob through the medium of Kae-e-vanrash, which is the grand Key, or, in other words, the governing power, which governs fifteen other fixed planets or stars, as also Floeese or the Moon, the Earth and the Sun in their annual revolutions. This planet receives its power through the medium of Kli-flos-is-es, or Hah-ko-kau-beam, the stars represented by numbers 22 and 23, receiving light from the revolutions of Kolob.

Fig. 6. Represents this earth in its four quarters.

Fig. 7. Represents God sitting upon his throne, revealing through the heavens the grand Key-words of the Priesthood; as, also, the sign of the Holy Ghost unto Abraham, in the form of a dove.

Fig. 8. Contains writings that cannot be revealed unto the world; but is to be had in the Holy Temple of God.

Fig. 9. Ought not to be revealed at the present time.

Fig. 10. Also.

Fig. 11. Also. If the world can find out these numbers, so let it be. Amen.

Figures 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21, will be given in the own due time of the Lord.

The above translation is given as far as we have any right to give at the present time.

Michael D. Rhodes, Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, p.124
Figure 1. Joseph Smith says that this is "Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God." To the ancient Egyptians, this was symbolic of God, endowed with the primeval creative force, seated at the center of the universe. The name Kolob is right at home in this context. The word most likely derives from the common Semitic root *QLB, which has the basic meaning of "heart, center, middle." In fact the Arabic form of this word, qalb, forms part of the Arabic names of several of the brightest stars in the sky including Antares, Regulus, and Canopus.

Michael D. Rhodes, Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, p.126
Figure 4. Joseph Smith explains that this figure represents the expanse of the heavens, the revolutions of Kolob and Obilish, and that it also signified the number 1,000. This is the hawk-god, Horus-Sokar. Horus was a personification of the sky, and Sokar was associated with the revolution of the Sun and other celestial bodies. Finally, the ship here shown is described in Egyptian texts as "ship of a thousand." Joseph Smith hits it right on the mark.

Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.1, p.79
When this earth was created, it was not according to our present time, but it was created according to Kolob's time, for the Lord has said it was created on celestial time which is Kolob's time. Then he revealed to Abraham that Adam was subject to Kolob's time before his transgression. "Now I, Abraham, saw that it was after the Lord's time, which was after the time of Kolob; for as yet the Gods had not appointed unto Adam his reckoning."

Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.3, p.80
AUTHORITY: A UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE. Authority is an eternal principle operative throughout the universe. To the "utmost bounds" of space all things are governed by law emanating from the Lord our God. On Kolob and other giant governing stars and in the tiny electron, infinitesimally small and of which all things are composed, divine authority is manifest in the form of immutable law. All space is filled with matter and that matter is controlled and directed by an All-Wise and Omniscient Creator.

Joseph Fielding Smith, The Signs of the Times, p.181
It is a very significant thing that most of the modern discoveries and inventions have come to the world since the opening of the heavens to the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is true that the Lord began to pour out His spirit upon men when despotism and religious tyranny ruled the world. In the very beginning Adam had a correct understanding of astronomy and the power of the Almighty ruling in the universe. It was revealed to Joseph Smith that Kolob "signifies the first great grand governing fixed star which is the farthest that has ever been discovered by the fathers, which was discovered by Methuselah and also by Abraham."

Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p.50
The Lord continues in his revelation to the prophet: "And there are many kingdoms; for there is no space in the which there is no kingdom; . . . And unto every kingdom is given a law…. " (D&C 88:37-38.) He knew the bounds set to heaven, earth, sun, and stars, their times, revolutions, laws, and glories—which orbs borrow their light from Kolob, the greatest of all the stars. (See Abraham 3.) He actually tells us about the throne of God and that he resides "on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, . . . a great Urim and Thummim." (D&C 130:7-8.)

"If You Could Hie to Kolob," Elder William W. Phelps
Hymn, No. 257

If you could hie to Kolob in the twinkling of an eye,
And then continue onward with that same speed to fly,
D'ye think that you could ever, through all eternity,
Find out the generation where Gods began to be?

Or see the grand beginning, where space did not extend?
Or view the last creation where Gods and matter end?
Methinks the Spirit whispers, "No man has found 'pure space,'"
Nor seen the outside curtains, where nothing has a place.

The works of God continue, and worlds and lives abound;
Improvement and progression have one eternal round.
There is no end to matter; there is no end to space;
There is no end to spirit; there is no end to race.

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p.795 TIME
Some of this revelation has already taken place. For instance: We know that on Kolob, where the Lord's time prevails, a day is 1,000 years of our time. (Abra. 3:4; 2 Pet. 3:8.) Thus it is that the time element in the creation of this earth was reckoned "after the Lord's time, which was after the time of Kolob; for as yet the Gods had not appointed unto Adam his reckoning." (Abra. 5:13.)

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.1, ASTRONOMY, SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES
The book of Abraham states that God's physical dominion (throne) is located near a star called Kolob (Abr. 3:2-3). While it might seem reasonable to suppose that this refers to some distinguishing feature of the universe, all efforts to identify it are speculative and not authoritative. Wherever Kolob is located, its purpose is to "govern" all planets that are of the same "order" as the Earth (Abr. 3:9). Since Abraham says no more than that, it is not clear whether he is speaking physically, metaphorically, or allegorically. Thus, "to govern" might mean a physical bonding as with gravity, while "order" could conceivably mean planets similar to the Earth in size, or planets in the same region of this galaxy or even in the entire Milky Way galaxy. Kolob was also said by the Egyptians to provide the light for all stars, including that for our sun (Abr. Facsimile 2). Even so, Latter-day Saints have made no definitive comment on the meaning of these passages.

Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.1, Ch.4, p.67 - p.68
Kolob, as we noted, is not the center of the universe but governs only one class of stars: "I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest." (Abraham 3:3; italics added.) In the apocryphal Abraham literature, which has very recently and very suddenly taken on extreme importance in the eyes of the learned world, this point of vantage is a place in the heavens to which Abraham has been taken. There he is at first terrified because he finds no place on which to stand, until the angel who is with him gives him a correct orientation by drawing a round diagram of things. This is reflected in Facsimile No. 2 of the Book of Abraham, but we cannot discuss that here.

B. H. Roberts, New Witnesses for God, Vol.1, p.442
In this passage will be found the germ of that system of the construction and movement of planetary systems that make up the universe, set forth in the teachings of Joseph Smith. Here it may be seen that there are many great stars--the "governing ones," near together, and from among them rises one pre-eminent in greatness--Kolob--which governs all the rest that are of the same order as that to which our solar system belongs.

B. H. Roberts, New Witnesses for God, Vol.1, p.442
From other fragments translated from the writings of Abraham on the roll of papyrus we learn that a star called by the Egyptians "Oliblish" stands next to Kolob--that it is the next grand, governing creation; that it is equal to Kolob in its revolutions and in the measurement of time; that it holds the keys of power as pertaining to other planets.

B. H. Roberts, New Witnesses for God, Vol.1, p.443
Another governing star in this Abrahamic system is Enish-go-on-dosh, "said by the ancient Egyptians to be the sun, and to borrow [receive] its light from Kolob through the medium of Kae-e-vanrash. * * * Kae-e-vanrash is the grand key or governing power which governs fifteen other fixed planets or stars, as also the moon (Flo-eese), the earth and the sun in their annual revolutions. * * * * Kae-e-vanrash receives its power through Kliflos-is-es or Hah-ko-kau-beam. Kli-fios-is-es and Hah-ko-kau-beam receive their light from the revolutions of Kolob.

Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, Vol 3, p.60
Kolob, signifies the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God. It is the first in government, and the last as to its reckoning of time. Its day is one thousand years according to the earth's year. Then there were other great governing bodies. Oliblish, which stands next to Kolob in point of governing power, has also the day of one thousand of our years. Kolob's time of reckoning is the Lord's time, hence celestial time. Here back more than nineteen centuries before the birth of our Lord, the Lord revealed to Abraham the perfect order existing in our universe and how the stars and planets are governed in their times and seasons by great orbs appointed to this honor by the commandment of the Lord. There are things revealed in the Book of Abraham which were not understood by the astronomers in the day of Joseph Smith, and which are not accepted with finality even to this day by the learned searchers of the heavens, although the Lord by his revelation to his ancient prophets has made them simple and plain. How grateful we should be for the knowledge thus received—by those who are willing to believe! [page 61]

Milton R. Hunter, Pearl of Great Price Commentary, p.93
The Lord pointed out to Abraham that Kolob was immense in size. The fact that it took one thousand years of our time for it to make one complete turn on its axis—in other words, for one days' time to elapse—also is indicative of its enormity. Modern astronomers have discovered many stars which are gigantic in size. These they call "super-giant stars." One of the largest of them is named Betelgeuse. It has a diameter of approximately four hundred sixty millions of miles. Another super-giant star, also enormous in size, is named Antares. This immense body of matter is located in the Scorpia constellation. It has a diameter of approximately three hundred millions of miles. Another giant star, being a little larger than Antares, is named Myra, and another is called Arcturus. The latter one has a diameter of thirty-six millions of miles. Any of these massive bodies of matter could easily be accepted as being comparable in size to the great star Kolob which God showed to Father Abraham.

Errol R. Fish, Promptings of the Spirit, p.43
Surely the Holy Ghost's actual place of residence is on a celestial world—possibly the same as where the Father dwells. In the book of Abraham we are told that the throne of God is near the great star Kolob. (Abr. 3:3) There is no reason to suppose that the Holy Ghost, personally, dwells on this telestial earth.

B. H. Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol.2, Ch.47, p.128 - p.129
There is also, in outline, a most noble system of astronomy in this Egyptian fragment, which system, according to the record itself, was revealed to Abraham by means of Urim and Thummim, and which more modern research and discovery does but confirm. Briefly stated the system stands as follows--omitting, however, most of the Egyptian names used:--There are many great stars, called "governing ones," one of which rises preeminent above the others "nearest the throne of God," and is called "Kolob." This great star constitutes the grand center of our universe, around which all other great stars revolve, or by which they are governed in their movements, or receive controlling force; and thence from this great central governing star, in ever widening circles revolve countless worlds and world-groups with their respective central suns in bewildering yet orderly magnificence and splendor. This view represents the universe not as static, but as dynamic; movement everywhere, leading not to "being," merely, but to that "becoming" which as it is the noblest, so also is it the most scientific conception of the universe; so also the most in harmony with religious feeling, since it gives evidence of the Intelligence back of the phenomena, and some idea of the magnificence and glory of that Intelligence--some idea--"of God moving in his majesty and power," since he must be thought upon as immanent in the universe by his spirit.

R. Grant Athay, BYU Studies, Vol. 8, No. 3, p.257
Abraham further taught that stars rotate on their axes and revolve in space about other stars according to "set periods" of time, that star and planetary systems had central governing planets or stars, that the star Kolob is nearest the celestial residence, and that it governs the planet Earth. Kolob is said also to be the source of the sun's, energy, although it is not clear whether Abraham taught this or whether it was an Egyptian belief.