This was a great talk by Sister Dennis that covered some things that are very important but that are rarely talked about from the General Conference pulpit.

As my two youngest children were growing, I discovered books that were entertaining and engaging but also used symbolism in their stories. As we read together in the evenings, I loved helping my children understand the symbolism the author was using to teach deeper principles, even gospel principles.

I knew this was sinking in one day when my younger son was in his early teens. He had started a new book and just wanted to enjoy the story, but his mind kept trying to find the deeper meaning in everything he was reading. He was frustrated, but I was smiling inside.

Jesus taught through stories and symbols—a mustard seed to teach the power of faith, a lost sheep to teach the worth of souls, a prodigal son to teach the character of God. His parables were symbols through which He could teach deeper lessons to those who had “ears to hear.”  But those not seeking the deeper meaning would not understand,  just as many who read those same books I read to my children never knew there were deeper meanings and so much more to get out of those stories.

Why is it important for us to strive to understand symbolism (deeper meanings)?

Because understanding symbolism is central to an understanding of the gospel.  Indeed Elder Orson F Whitney wrote:

 ‘The Universe is built on symbols, lifting our thoughts from man to God, from earth to heaven, from time to eternity…God teaches with symbols; it is His favourite way of teaching.’  (Orson F Whitney, Latter Day Saint Ideals and Institutions, Improvement Era, 30 August 1927)

However, despite this, many Saints are not comfortable with ceremonial symbolism. As a rule, apart from baptism and the sacrament, our Church services are not symbolically rich. Many find that the temple ordinances with their many levels of symbolism are, at first, confusing and hard to understand. However, with continued temple attendance and through the Spirit we begin to find meanings within the symbols and this enriches our temple experience:

 ‘In the temple the Spirit is the teacher. It instructs us, most frequently, through the symbols that comprise the endowment. We must be alert and pay attention to all that we see and hear, thus allowing the Spirit to teach us and to bring us understanding. If we go to the temple and just sit, without making an effort to learn, we will miss some of the greatest blessings the temple has to offer.’ (S Michael Wilcox, House of Glory.)

Doctrine

When God the Father offered His Only Begotten Son as a sacrifice for us, Jesus Christ Himself became the highest symbol of our Father in Heaven’s undying love for each of us. Jesus Christ became the Lamb of God.

What is the symbolism of ‘the Lamb of God’?

Promise

We have the privilege and blessing of being invited into a covenant relationship with God, in which our own lives can become a symbol of that covenant. Covenants create the kind of relationship that allows God to mold and change us over time and lift us to become more like the Savior, drawing us closer and closer to Him and our Father and eventually preparing us to enter Their presence.

From Sister Dennis’ footnotes: 

“By entering into a covenant with us, God not only binds us to Him, but it is as if He straps us on His back and takes us where only He can go” (Kerry Muhlestein, God Will Prevail: Ancient Covenants, Modern Blessings, and the Gathering of Israel [2021], 8).

In what ways can our lives become a symbol of our covenant relationship with God?

Promise

Each person on earth is a beloved son or daughter of God. When we choose to be part of a covenant, it enhances and deepens our relationship with Him. President Russell M. Nelson has taught that when we choose to make covenants with God, our relationship with Him can become much closer than it was before our covenant, and it enables Him to bless us with an extra measure of His mercy and love, a covenantal love referred to as hesed in the Hebrew language.

From Sister Dennis’ footnotes: 

“Hesed is a … term describing a covenant relationship in which both parties are bound to be loyal and faithful to each other. … Because God has hesed for those who have covenanted with Him, … He will continue to work with them and offer them opportunities to change. … And should they stray, He will help them find their way back to Him,” just as He did time and time again with His covenant people in Old Testament times. “When we enter a covenant with God, we have made a covenant with Him who will always keep His word. He will do everything He can, without infringing on our agency, to help us keep ours” (Russell M. Nelson, “The Everlasting Covenant,” Liahona, Oct. 2022, 6, 11; see also Muhlestein, God Will Prevail, 9–12; Deuteronomy 7:9).

The covenant path is all about our relationship with God—our hesed relationship with Him.

From Sister Dennis’ footnotes: 

God will never abandon His covenant relationships. “He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us” (Russell M. Nelson, “The Everlasting Covenant,” 6). 

How is our relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ changed because we have made covenants?

Promise

Our Father wants a deeper relationship with all His sons and daughters, but it is our choice. As we choose to draw nearer to Him through a covenant relationship, it allows Him to draw nearer to us and more fully bless us.

Think of the various covenants we enter into with God – how does each of them help us to draw nearer to Him?

Promise

God sets the conditions and obligations of the covenants we make. When we choose to enter into that relationship, we witness to Him, through the symbolic actions of each covenant, that we are willing to abide by the conditions He has set. Through honoring our covenants, we enable God to pour out the multitude of promised blessings associated with those covenants, including increased power to change and become more like our Savior. Jesus Christ is at the center of all covenants we make, and covenant blessings are made possible because of His atoning sacrifice.

Elder Dale G Renlund, in his April 2023 General Conference talk said:

‘A covenant is a pledge that we should prepare for, clearly understand, and absolutely honor. Making a covenant with God is different than casually making a promise. First, priesthood authority is required. Second, a feeble promise does not have the connecting strength to lift us above the pull of the natural flow. We make a covenant only when we intend to commit ourselves quite exceptionally to fulfilling it. We become covenant children of God and inheritors of His kingdom, especially when we identify ourselves completely with the covenant.’

Doctrine

Baptism by immersion is the symbolic gate through which we enter into a covenant relationship with God. Being immersed in the water and coming up again is symbolic of the Savior’s death and Resurrection to new life. As we are baptized, we symbolically die and are born again into the family of Christ and show we are willing to take His name upon us. We ourselves embody that covenant symbolism. In the New Testament we read, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” With our baptism we symbolically put on Christ.

In the October 2019 General Conference, Sister Lisa Harkness said:

“Our willingness to take upon us the name of Christ is more than a formal exchange of words. It is not a passive promise or a cultural contrivance. It is not a rite of passage or a name tag that we wear. It is not a saying that we simply place on a shelf or hang on a wall. His is a name that is “put on,”  Galatians 3:27 written in our hearts, and “engraven upon [our] countenances.””

What do you understand it to mean to ‘put on Christ’?

Doctrine

The ordinance of the sacrament also points to the Savior. The bread and water are symbolic of Christ’s flesh and blood shed for us. The gift of His Atonement is symbolically offered to us each week when a priesthood holder, representing the Savior Himself, offers us the bread and water. As we perform the action of eating and drinking the emblems of His flesh and blood, Christ symbolically becomes a part of us. We again put on Christ as we make a new covenant each week.

From Sister Dennis’ footnotes: 

President Russell M. Nelson said: “Often, I hear the expression that we partake of the sacrament to renew covenants made at baptism. While that’s true, it’s much more than that. I’ve made a new covenant. You have made new covenants” (in Dale G. Renlund, “Unwavering Commitment to Jesus Christ,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2019, 25, footnote 18).

Doctrine

As we make covenants with God in the house of the Lord, we further deepen our relationship with Him. Everything we do in the temple points to our Father’s plan for us, at the heart of which is the Savior and His atoning sacrifice.The Lord will teach us line upon line through the symbolism of the ordinances and covenants as we open our hearts and prayerfully seek to understand the deeper meanings.

Through study, pondering and the inspiration of the Spirit we can discover these deeper meanings and this understanding can enrich our temple experience. The Apostle Paul taught:

 ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.’ (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).Doctrine

As part of the temple endowment, we are authorized to wear the garment of the holy priesthood. It is both a sacred obligation and a sacred privilege.

What is the obligation and what is the privilege?

In many religious traditions, special outer clothing is worn as a symbol of a person’s beliefs and commitment to God, and ceremonial clothing is often worn by those leading worship services. Those sacred vestments carry deep meaning for those who wear them. We read in scripture that in ancient times, sacred ceremonial clothing was also worn in conjunction with temple rituals.

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, those of us who have chosen to make covenants with God in the house of the Lord wear sacred ceremonial outer clothing during temple worship, symbolic of the clothing worn in ancient temple rituals. We also wear the garment of the holy priesthood, both during temple worship and in our everyday lives.

Doctrine

The garment of the holy priesthood is deeply symbolic and also points to the Savior. When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit and had to leave the Garden of Eden, they were given coats of skins as a covering for them. It is likely that an animal was sacrificed to make those coats of skins—symbolic of the Savior’s own sacrifice for us. Kaphar is the basic Hebrew word for atonement, and one of its meanings is “to cover.” Our temple garment reminds us that the Savior and the blessings of His Atonement cover us throughout our lives. As we put on the garment of the holy priesthood each day, that beautiful symbol becomes a part of us.

In the New Testament book of Romans, we read: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. … Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Promise

I am so grateful for the privilege of wearing the garment of the holy priesthood to remind me that the Savior and the blessings of His infinite Atonement constantly cover me throughout my mortal journey. It also reminds me that as I keep the covenants I have made with God in the house of the Lord, I have symbolically put on Christ, who Himself is an armor of light. He will protect me from evil, give me power and increased capacity, and be my light and guide through the darkness and difficulties of this world.

In the 2022 New Mission Leaders Seminar, President Nelson taught:

“I want you to know what the Apostle Paul taught about the veil of the temple. This is recorded in the book of Hebrews, chapter 10 starting at verse 19. I quote, “Having . . . boldness to enter into the holiest [think of the celestial room] by the blood of Jesus, . . . which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.”

Your garment is symbolic of the veil; the veil is symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when you put on your garment, you may feel that you are truly putting upon yourself the very sacred symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ—His life, His ministry and His mission, which was to atone for every daughter and son of God. 

You have already taken His name upon you at baptism. And you reaffirm that sacred covenant each week when you partake of the sacrament. Each day when you clothe yourself once again with the holy garment, you may ponder about all He has done for you and for all people who would ever live. You may also reflect upon the great privileges that come to those who learn how to draw upon the powers of heaven. ….

Wearing the garment represents your continuing commitment. Just as the Savior exemplified our need to endure to the end, so we wear the garment faithfully as our enduring armor of God. Thus, we demonstrate our faith in Him and in our everlasting covenants made with Him. 

Our garments are a shield and protection for us, both physically and spiritually. They protect us from the fiery darts of the adversary, which may be aimed at us and our loved ones during the day. And, very simply, wearing the garment faithfully and respectfully gives us greater access to the mercy, protection, strength and power of our Savior Jesus Christ.”

What have you learned about the garment of the holy priesthood from President Nelson and Sister Dennis?

There is deep and beautiful symbolic meaning in the garment of the holy priesthood and its relationship to Christ. I believe that my willingness to wear the holy garment becomes my symbol to Him. It is my own personal sign to God, not a sign to others.

From Sister Dennis’ footnotes: 

Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar” (“Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 24).

Not because of personal preference, inconvenience, or style, but because of certain medical conditions, for some people, wearing the garment is much more difficult. The Lord knows our hearts and understands our desires to honor our commitments with Him. See, for example, Mosiah 4:24–25.

Doctrine

I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. His atoning sacrifice for us became the greatest symbol of His and our Father in Heaven’s infinite love for each of us, with the tangible symbols of that love and sacrifice—the marks in the Savior’s hands, feet, and side—remaining even after His Resurrection.

Promise

As I keep my covenants and obligations with God, including wearing the garment of the holy priesthood, my very life can become a personal symbol of my love and deep gratitude for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and my desire to have Him with me always.

How can we make sure that we always remember and keep our covenants and obligations?

Invitation

If you have not yet done so, I invite you to choose a deeper relationship with God by making covenants with Him in the house of the Lord. Study the talks of our prophet (including the beautiful teachings in the footnotes of his talks, which most conference talks have). He has spoken repeatedly about covenants for years and especially since becoming President of the Church. Learn from his teachings about the beautiful blessings and increased power and capacity that can be yours through making and keeping covenants with God.

In this (April 2024) General Conference, President Nelson taught:

“Priesthood keys restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith make it possible for every covenant-keeping man and woman to enjoy incredible personal spiritual privileges.”

Doctrine

The General Handbook states that it is not required to have a mission call or be engaged to be married to make temple covenants. A person must be at least 18 years old, no longer be attending high school or the equivalent, and be a member of the Church for at least one year. There are also standards of personal holiness required. 

Invitation

If you have the desire to deepen your relationship with your Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ by making sacred covenants in the house of the Lord, I invite you to speak with your bishop or branch president and let him know of your desires. He will help you know how to prepare to receive and honor those covenants.

Promise

Through a covenant relationship with God, our own lives can become a living symbol of our commitment to and deep love for our Father in Heaven, our hesed for Him, and our desire to progress and eventually become like our Savior, being prepared to one day enter Their presence. I testify that the great blessings of that covenant relationship are well worth the price. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

What are your ‘take aways’ from Sister Dennis’ talk?

NB: Passages in italics are direct quotes from Sister Dennis’ talk.