On Palm Sunday, a week before His Resurrection, Jesus fulfilled prophecy by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.

As Jesus entered the city, a large group of His followers laid out their clothes and palm fronds before Him. Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained this ritual as follows:

“Only kings and conquerors received such an extraordinary token of respect as this. … Amid shouts of praise and pleas for salvation and deliverance, we see the disciples strewing our Lord’s course with palm branches in token of victory and triumph.”

Palm trees and palm leaves make several appearances in the scriptures. But how much do you know about their powerful symbolism? We’ve compiled a quick study guide about palm leaves that we hope will enrich your Easter celebrations.

After crossing the Red Sea on dry ground, the children of Israel wandered through the wilderness without water. After three days, they came upon a water source, but it was bitter and undrinkable. Moses prayed for help, and the Lord showed them how to use a tree to purify the water.

After providing this blessing, the Lord gave the Israelites an If-Then statement:

The Israelites then arrived in Elim, a place with 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees.

Tammy Uzelac Hall, host of the Sunday on Monday podcast, explains that the 12 wells represent each of the 12 tribes of Israel and that 70 is symbolic of completion or wholeness. Because the trees are upright, the palms represent not just triumph but ultimate triumph. Thus, Elim is a place representative of the complete deliverance of the children of Israel if they will follow the Lord’s commandments.

This promise of deliverance still applies to us today. The gathering of Israel is a worldwide movement to graft all of God’s children into a covenant relationship with Him. He is eager to protect us from the enemy, and He wants us to come home.

Palms are also mentioned in the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple in Doctrine and Covenants 109.

Joseph Smith Jr. received the prayer through revelation and asked that, at Christ’s Second Coming, “our garments may be pure, that we may be clothed upon with robes of righteousness, with palms in our hands, and crowns of glory upon our heads, and reap eternal joy for all our sufferings” (emphasis added).

This image is a beautiful reminder that if we enter into temple covenants with God and honor them, our victory over literal and spiritual death is guaranteed, and Christ’s return will be a triumphal experience for us. We will literally reap “eternal joy for all our sufferings” through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, “for all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28).

There is another kind of palm symbolic of our deliverance: the palms of the Savior.

In Isaiah 49, Christ says:

“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands” (emphasis added).

Later in the chapter, Christ promises that He will do more than simply not forget us:

“But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.”

The captives will be freed! The prey will be delivered! Christ will fight for us! He will save little children!

Let this promise sink in.

He offers us complete victory. Complete triumph. Complete deliverance.

In preparation for Easter, let us figuratively (and perhaps literally) hold a palm leaf in our hands in celebration of the nail prints in His. For because of Him, we are free.

More articles for you:

▶ How to feel at home in the house of the Lord
▶ The scripture that was the ‘drumbeat’ of Patricia Holland’s motherhood
▶ 28 Christ-centered gifts perfect for any Easter basket

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