Tree of Life

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Agency

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Moses 3:17

Atonement

See “Cross”, “God’s Love”, and “Jesus Christ”

Center/Beginning/Navel

“The axis mundi (also cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, center of the world, world tree), in religion or mythology, is the world center or the connection between Heaven and Earth. As the celestial pole and geographic pole, it expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet. At this point travel and correspondence is made between higher and lower realms. Communication from lower realms may ascend to higher ones and blessings from higher realms may descend to lower ones and be disseminated to all. The spot functions as the omphalos (navel), the world’s point of beginning. The image is mostly viewed as feminine, as it relates to the center of the earth (perhaps like an umbilical providing nourishment). It may have the form of a natural object (a mountain, a tree, a vine, a stalk, a column of smoke or fire) or a product of human manufacture (a staff, a tower, a ladder, a staircase, a maypole, a cross, a steeple, a rope, a totem pole, a pillar, a spire). Its proximity to heaven may carry implications that are chiefly religious (pagoda, temple mount, minaret, church) or secular (obelisk, lighthouse, rocket, skyscraper).
via Wikipedia

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
Genesis 1:1

“In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God.”
JST, John 1:1

“And it came to pass after I had seen the tree, I said unto the Spirit: I behold thou hast shown unto me the tree which is precious above all … I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white … Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh … And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms … And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.”
1 Nephi 11:9,13,18,20-22

“—therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth—and man became lost forever, yea, they became fallen man … And now, ye see by this that our first parents were cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord; … and the fall had brought upon all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal, that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord, it was expedient that mankind should be reclaimed from this spiritual death.”
Alma 42:6,7,9

“And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.”
1 Nephi 11:25

“And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.”
1 Nephi 8:24

Cross

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree…”
1 Peter 2:24 (RSV)

“And we are witnesses to all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree;”
Acts 10:39 (RSV)

God’s Love

“The Tree of Life is found in the first and last books of the Bible (Gen. 3 and Rev. 2; another Alpha & Omega association) and early on in the Book of Mormon (1 Ne.). The olive tree may be the best example ‘Tree of Life’ since it symbolizes the Love of God (the Father) as demonstrated in the sacrifice of His only begotten Son on our behalf. A major portion of the Savior’s crucifixion occurred on the cross, a substitute tree for most modern Christians. The Tree of life may also be symbolized by the palm tree, the golden almond tree, the burning bush, and the menorah; the fruit of which (eternal life) we may freely take. The Tree of Knowledge, on the other hand, may be a Fig tree.”
Val Brinkerhoff, “The Day Star: Reading Sacred Architecture” (Book 1), 51

Jesus Christ

“And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look! And I looked and beheld a tree;…And it came to pass after I had seen the tree, I said unto the Spirit: I behold thou hast shown unto me the tree which is precious above all. And he said unto me: What desirest thou? And I said unto him: To know the interpretation thereof…And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou? And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins…And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh…And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things…I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.”
1 Nephi 11:8-25

See also “God’s Love” and “Center/Beginning/Navel”

Knowledge

While the v-like “symbol” here within the ldsSymbols project is referred to as the “tree of life,” the tree motif is not restricted to the tree of life. You can also find tree motifs that actually reference the tree of knowledge in the garden of Eden. The “tree of knowledge” had an essential role to play in the plan of salvation, paving the way for the fall by providing for the exercise of agency. In your studies, be careful to make the distinction between different kinds of trees and how they fit into whatever context you find them.

“And out of the ground made the Gods to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life, also, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
Abraham 5:9

Man + Woman

“Think—two people, two trees—whose stewardship does this sound like? It is through women that souls journey to mortality and gain their agency, and in general it is through the nurturing of women, their nurturing love of their children, that the light of Christ is awakened within each soul. And I would include in that list of souls Jesus the Christ. Even Christ our Lord was escorted to mortality and veiled in flesh through the gift of a woman, fed at his mother’s breast, awakened to all that is good and sweet in the world. Women escort every soul through the veil to mortal life and full agency. I believe that when we think about it—two people, two trees—that what we’re really thinking about is two stewardships. And that the fruit of the First Tree symbolizes the gift that women give to every soul that chose the plan of Christ. It symbolizes the role and power of women in the Great Plan of Happiness. It was not, in this view, right or proper for Adam to partake first of the fruit of the First Tree. It was not his role to give the gift of the fruit of the First Tree to others. It is interesting to think that even Adam, who was created before Eve, entered into full mortality and full agency by accepting the gift of the First Tree from the hand of a woman. In a sense, Adam himself was born of Eve.”
Valerie Hudson Cassler, The Two Trees, FAIR Conference, August 2010 – Link

Opposition

“And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.”
2 Nephi 2:15

“The fruit of the one which was ‘bitter’ was the tree of life, and the forbidden fruit was the one which was ‘sweet to the taste’.”
Harold B. Lee CR April 56, pg. 109

“Now that is the way it ofttimes sounds, that the things that are forbidden are the things which are the most desirable, and the things that are right for us are sometimes pretty bitter pills for us to swallow, as we say.”
Teachings of Harold B. Lee,  13-14

Wisdom

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom…She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.”
Proverbs 3:14,18