When Adam and Eve partook of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and discovered their nakedness, that nakedness and vulnerability terrified them. They grabbed whatever they could find - some leaves - and tried to hide behind cover, however flimsy. The aprons they sewed together were the best they could come up with to preserve their modesty and to protect themselves from the heat and the cold and the wet. Their loving Father taught them that this was not going to cut it. God sacrificed animals to make coats of skin for His children to wear. It is obvious that animal skins can provide more warmth and coverage and protection than leaves, but it is important to recognize that Adam and Eve’s nakedness was covered over through the sacrifice and gift from their Heavenly Father. We can try to weave together leaves from the scriptures and from the philosophies of men to cover up our own nakedness and vulnerability, but our very best survival strategies and coping mechanisms will start to wither and become brittle and crumble, until even a single of the adversary’s winds will destroy and scatter all of our work. We can’t cover up our weakness and our nakedness using our own strength and intelligence and willpower. Not fully and not for long. It is only through sacrifice that we can find lasting warmth and protection, and the very first thing that we must sacrifice is our valiant but ultimately insufficient fig leaf coverings. Joseph Smith said, “A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.” Christ sacrificed Himself for all things and so we must be willing to sacrifice all things to follow in His footsteps. God clothed Adam and Eve through sacrifice. It was the only way. I am sure that Adam and Eve gave great reverence and respect to the gifts they were given and honored the sacrifice of the animals who had to die so that they could be clothed with warmth and protection and power. I hope that we can receive the gift and the sacrifice and the covering of our nakedness through the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ with equal reverence and gratitude and respect. “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10).
