Answer:

The question in Ezra 2:62-63, has nothing to do with the question of salvation of the dead. This passage has reference to those who returned from the captivity who had intermarried among peoples who were not entitled to the blessings of the priesthood. By the action of the authorities these were set aside, and not allowed to participate or take part in the priesthood.

NO BAPTISM FOR DEAD IN DAYS OF EZRA

Incidentally, permit me to say, that there was no doctrine taught and no work performed for the dead in the days of Ezra. For that matter there could be no performance of ordinances for the dead in those early times. Baptism for the dead and the other ordinances pertaining to salvation for the dead were not practiced in Israel or any other place in the world before the resurrection of our Savior. In fact, it was contrary to the plan of salvation for the ordinances to be performed for the dead until after the Savior had, through his atonement and resurrection, prepared the way for the salvation of the dead. We are taught in the scriptures that this vicarious work was one that had to wait until the power of redemption had been fulfilled in the mission, death, and resurrection of our Lord. It was he who through his atonement on the cross opened the door for the salvation of the dead and made it possible for the living, who held the divine authority by partaking of these glorious gifts themselves in the temples of the Lord, to go into the temples and perform this vicarious work for the dead.

Unfortunately there is very little written in the scriptures that has come down to us that throws any light whatever on the salvation of the dead. That there was established the practice of baptism for the dead in the days following the resurrection of the Savior, we learn from the writings of Paul. However that which is recorded is extremely fragmentary, and we do not gain a clear insight into what was done.

OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO WORK FOR THE DEAD

The doctrine of salvation for the dead was one that evidently had to wait almost entirely for the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. This work is one of the urgent duties which pertains to the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, and the Lord has made it obligatory today upon the children to see that the work is done for their fathers. By fathers, we mean the generations of our kindred dead back to the time of Adam.

In an epistle written to the brethren who were in Great Britain in 1840, the Prophet Joseph Smith said:

I presume the doctrine of "baptism for the dead" has ere this reached your ears, and many have raised some inquiries in your minds respecting the same. I cannot in this letter give you all the information you may desire on the subject; but aside from knowledge independent of the Bible, I would say that it was certainly practiced by the ancient churches; and St. Paul endeavors to prove the doctrine of the resurrection from the same, and says, "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?"

I first mentioned the doctrine in public when preaching the funeral sermon of Brother Seymour Brunson: and have since then given general instructions in the Church on the subject. The Saints have the privilege of being baptized for those of their relatives who are dead, who they believe would have embraced the Gospel, if they had been privileged with hearing it, and who have received the Gospel in the spirit, through the instrumentality of those who have been commissioned to preach to them while in prison. (DHC 4, p. 231.)

According to the doctrine of salvation for the dead, it is the duty of the children to perform the ordinances for their fathers, in fulfilment of the promise made through the prophets. It was for this purpose that Elijah came to plant in the hearts of the children the promise made by prophecy to the fathers. It is very evident from the revelations and the teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that it is the responsibility of the children to work on the lineage of their fathers and search out their kindred dead as far back as they are able to go. Therefore to answer the question, it is our duty to search out our own dead and not labor at random, but endeavor to link generation by generation of our own kindred back from generation to generation as far as we can go.

THE LORD'S PLAN WILL NOT FAIL

If every family in the Church would perform this labor for their dead, they would be doing exactly what the Lord requires of them. If we do our duty, we will find enough to do without overstepping any bounds. We need not worry about what the Lord will do with the numerous dead. We may be sure that his plan will not fail. The work of salvation for the dead will carry on and eventually the work will be performed for every soul who is entitled to receive it. It has been stated with reasonable understanding, that during the millennium and after we have done all that we are able, those on the other side will come to those who are still in mortality and aid in this vicarious work by supplying the necessary information which we are unable to procure. The work of the Lord is perfect, and we should have confidence in him that he will provide the means by which all those who are worthy shall find the means for the ordinances to be granted to them. This, however, does not exempt the living from performing the ordinances for their dead as far as they are able to go.

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(Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1957-1966], 4:.)