According to John Welch, it's hard to imagine opening your ears. You can open your eyes, but to open your ears seems strange. . . . But in a ritual context, the opening of the eyes and the opening of the ears is symbolic of opening your heart and your understanding to the mysteries--to the secrets, to the rituals, to the sacred things that will then unfold. We know this from King Benjamin's speech (Mosiah 2:9), where he says, "I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view." Functionally, something like this could certainly be analogized to what we see in early Christian ritual coming from Cyril of Jerusalem. Brother Nibley has spelled out in The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri that one of the initial ordinances given to early Christians was the anointing of eyes and ears. Cyril says that they ritualized this and said, " . . . that you might receive hearing ears of the mysteries of God." . . .
Jesus specifically said in connection with the teaching of the parables that the reason that he speaks in parables is so that everyone won't understand (Matthew 13:10-13). You think, why on earth is Jesus not wanting everyone to understand? Well, there are some things that people aren't yet ready to receive. He will give them and let them understand at the level at which they are prepared to receive. The same things is true with the temple. Hardly anything is taught in the temple that cannot be taught outside the temple. Those principles and doctrines are all there for everyone to hear and see, but it is only in certain connections that you really see and you are fully taught. [John W. Welch, "Christ at the Nephite Temple," in Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, p. 132]