As a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings

In the 23rd chapter of Matthew, the Lord looks over Jerusalem and laments, "O Jerusalem, jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (v. 37).

The Lord had, throughout the centuries, sought to gather his people "even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings." What does this mean? A similar image is used in the 61st Psalm: "I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever; I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah." (v. 4). As used in this psalm, the covert of the Lord's wings is a synonym for the temple. New Oxford Annotated Bible 827 (3rd ed. 2001). It could be that in looking over Jerusalem, the Lord wept over the fact that the Jews had constantly turned away from the greatest blessings he offered them: the blessings of the fulness of the priesthood, the blessings of the temple. See Doctrine and Covenants 84:19-27.