Joseph Smith's dream of the snakes and his guardian angel

On June 13, 1844, at a meeting in the Seventy Hall in Nauvoo, Illinois, Joseph Smith related two dreams he had experienced the previous night. Feeling too oppressed in spirit to preach, he shared these accounts instead. In the first, he was riding in his carriage near the temple with his guardian angel. They spied two large snakes locked together so tightly that they had no power to harm him; his guide identified them as Robert D. Foster and Chauncey L. Higbee, who desired to destroy him. In the second dream, Joseph was riding up Mulholland Street, but this time his guide was not present. He encountered William and Wilson Law, who taunted him, dragged him from his carriage without ceremony, and threw him into a deep pit near the edge of the woods. After they left, the brothers called out to him for help. As Joseph pulled himself up by the grass at the edge of the pit, he witnessed a large snake strangling Wilson Law and a great bear tearing William Law to pieces. He then heard his name called and saw his guardian angel bounding over a fence. Upon Joseph's plea that his enemies had put him there, the angel took his hand, pulled him from the pit, and led him away to safety in the opposite direction.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

I had a dream last night. I thought I was riding in a carriage with my guardian angel, and we went through the Temple lot, and I thought we saw two large snakes, and they were locked together, and they had no power to harm me. My guide told me they were Robert D. Foster and Chauncey L. Higbee, and that they were trying to destroy me. I had another dream. I thought I was riding up Mulholland Street, and I thought I was alone, and I met William and Wilson Law, and they began to abuse me, and they took me out of my carriage, and they dragged me to a deep pit, and they threw me in, and they left me there. They then called to me for help. I then made a spring, and I caught hold of the grass which was growing at the edge of the pit with my fingers, and pulled myself up, and I could see on the prairie, and at a little distance I there beheld that a large snake had twisted itself around Wilson Law, and grabbed him by the arm a little above the elbow, and was fast strangling him. A little further, I saw that a great bear had laid hold of William Law, and was tearing him to pieces. At this time I heard my name called, 'Joseph, Joseph, what in goodness are you doing here?' I looked up and saw my guardian angel coming bounding over the fence. I said, 'My enemies have put me here.' He said, 'Take hold of my hand.' I did so. He jerked me out of the pit, and said, 'Follow me,' and he led me off in an opposite direction.