Awake, Awake, Put on Thy Strength, O Zion; Beautiful Garments; Arise

Ed J. Pinegar, Richard J. Allen

These thoughts are also conveyed in the instructions of the resurrected Savior to His assembled Saints in the New World (see 3 Nephi 20:36) and in the parting words of Moroni (see Moroni 10:31). The Prophet Joseph Smith explained: “What is meant by the command in Isaiah, 52d chapter, 1st verse, which saith: Put on thy strength, O Zion—and what people had Isaiah reference to? He had reference to those whom God should call in the last days, who should hold the power of priesthood to bring again Zion, and the redemption of Israel; and to put on her strength is to put on the authority of the priesthood, which she, Zion, has a right to by lineage; also to return to that power which she had lost” (D&C 113:7–8). Thus the symbolism of putting on garments of strength and beauty refers to the endowment of priesthood blessings upon the faithful, empowering and enabling them to rise in majesty as joint-heirs with Christ. (Note that 2 Nephi 8:24–25 is parallel to Isaiah 52:1–2, which really belongs at the end of Isaiah 51, as the Book of Mormon confirms.)

Commentaries and Insights on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1

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