By President Jeffery R. Holland
Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Regardless of the preparation they were undoubtedly given and the reassurances they tried to remember, it must have been a stunning shock to Adam and Eve to leave their paradisiacal Garden of Eden and step into a fallen world.

With solemn awareness, they realized what it meant to trade their tranquil, carefree life for a world of opposition and sweat, thorns and sorrow—followed eventually by something called death. They could not have known at the beginning what all of this meant, but they soon learned that each day could bring new pain. Indeed, the most painful of all was the realization that they would face all this separated from their Father in Heaven—“shut out from his presence,” Moses would later record.

Given this separation and loneliness in a cold, dreary world, how comforting it must have been for Adam and Eve to remember one thing: that promises had been made—something sacred and eternal called covenants. They had promised they would obey Father all the days of their life, and He had promised to provide a Savior, who would relieve their pain and sorrow, atone for their mistakes, and bring them safely back into His presence.

But how would these mortals remember what they had promised? How would they remain aware of their perilous situation—aware all the time, day and night?!

For such a reminder He gave them “coats of skins.” What a gift this was and how timely. After partaking of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve were almost instantly aware that they were naked. First, they tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves. Then, fearing that to be inadequate, they tried to hide from the Lord. (Such a foolish endeavor was evidence mortality was settling in!) From that moment to the present, a loving Father has invited His children to come, out of hiding, unto Him. And as with the coats of skins then and various items of clothing since, He in His mercy has not left us naked but has clothed the obedient in a “robe of righteousness,” a reminder of our promises and covenants. These “garments of salvation” symbolize the greatest gift of all, the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Well, all this thinking about Adam and Eve and covenants and clothing is, of course, more than just a mental exercise. It’s not hard to imagine how Adam and Eve felt, because we too face troubles in this fallen world. We too have been separated from the presence of God, and we further distance ourselves every time we transgress. Like Adam and Eve, we have been given that same Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Alpha and Omega, the Son of the living God. Like Adam and Eve, we have made covenants with God. And, as part of the temple endowment, we have been given a sacred physical reminder of those covenants—a symbol of the Savior Himself. In our dispensation it is called the garment of the holy priesthood.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2024/09/04-the-garment-of-the-holy-priesthood?lang=eng