There can be nothing more profound and so intimate to contemplate or even imagine than having one-on-one, direct physical contact with the Savior—to have Him embrace you, allow you to touch Him and to have Him cover you with the robes of His righteousness. What a blessing that would be. Every doctrine and every ordinance in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a shadow of that culminating experience. The Hebrew word for “atone”may relate to the word “to cover.” Thus, while the atonement will cover sins, more than that the atonement is a personal embrace, becoming “at one” with the Savior. As Lehi said, shortly before his death, “I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love” (2 Nephi 1:15). Nephi, Lehi’s son, similarly stated, “O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness!” (2 Nephi 4:33).
The arms of our Savior are extended to us always. That is what is real. That is what real existence is all about. It is not just about a relationship; it is about an eternal relationship—a relationship that becomes the model and provides the power that will allow us to have eternal relationships with our spouse, with our children, with all of our brothers and sisters throughout the world.
When I take myself into that moment, I am stopped and overcome with awe and wonder. This would be, on any terms, a miraculous experience. There is a reason why the English word “miracle” comes from the ancient root words that mean “wonder” and “amazement.” When a miracle happens, the only true human response to it is absolute astonishment. I love how the Book of Mormon describes the silence of the people as they stood and watched the Savior; how they “durst not open their mouths, even one to another” (verse 8). In most situations, it would be very hard to repress the urge to comment, “Did you see that? Look at what is happening here!” But the experience of being in the presence of Jesus Christ was so overwhelming to them that it was unspeakable.
I cannot visualize myself going to the Savior first and my wife going second. Nor can I imagine her going first and leaving me to go second. In this situation, I think of myself not as my body, but as the eternal couple that she and I are as an eternal essence. I cannot imagine that we would not be there together. I do not know that I would be watching her while we stood before the Savior, but we would be side-by-side and it would be an experience that we would not even have to talk about because we would have shared it so completely. We would smile. We would embrace. We would look at the Lord and know that it is through him that we have the power and the promise to be together forever. That is what this experience would mean to me.
Book of Mormon Central, “Why Did Jesus Minister to the People One by One? (3 Nephi 17:21),” KnoWhy 209 (October 14, 2016).