Lessons on the Temple
Lesson No. Thirty-Six 

The Powerful and Symbolically Beautiful Meaning of a Wedding Ring

The exchange of wedding rings is not a part of the sealing ordinance, but it often takes place in the sealing room immediately after the sealing ceremony.  Wearing a wedding ring or band is a wonderful tradition as it announces to the world and reminds the couple that they are married and under covenant one to another and to no one else.  (I refer to my wife, Susan, as Mom as I originally wrote this Lesson to our children)

Mom and I exchanged rings in the temple when we were married for time and all eternity over 55 years ago.  I love my ring, and have worn it ever since.  It has a very small diamond inset into a gold band.  It reminds me that Mom is the diamond of my life.
  

Mom’s wedding ring diamond was lost for over 20 years – Mom still wears the same modest diamond ring I gave her when we were married for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on March 15, 1968.  This ring is attractive but not expensive.  It is what we could afford, and she was very satisfied with it.  I have since learned how much she values this ring.

In about 1985 when our children were young Mom was working in the kitchen and noticed that the diamond had come off her ring.  She searched extensively over several days.  There were prayers and tears.  Finally she had to give up.  I bought her a more expensive replacement ring with a bigger diamond.   

Over twenty years later we removed a wall while remodeling our kitchen.  Mom was impressed to look again for the lost diamond.  As she swept the area under where the wall had been a beam of sunlight caused a sparkle in a seam in the flooring, and much to our amazement and delight she found her diamond.  She immediately had the original diamond set in her original wedding ring, and she has continued to wear it ever since.    

Prayers are answered, and sometimes it is in ways that help us understand additional and even more important things than that which we pray for.  It is amazing that after so many years and on the only day the wall was down she was inspired to remember the lost diamond.  Even more touching to me is how precious her original wedding ring is to her.  This is because of what it represents and reminds her of. 

The powerful and symbolically beautiful meaning of a wedding ring – Finding Mom’s original diamond caused us to think about and discuss what a wedding ring represents and what it means to us.

-        Eternity – A ring has no end, and as “the course of the Lord is one eternal round” (1Nephi 10:19) so is an eternal marriage.  An eternal marriage is only available to a worthy couple who have been sealed in the temple for time and all eternity.   

-        Unity and Oneness – “Male and female created he them and called their name Adam, in the day they were created” (Genesis 5:2, emphasis added).  One meaning of the name Adam includes both Adam and Eve.  We continue to follow this tradition.  When a couple is married they usually take the same name.  This is symbolic of the unity and oneness that should be in marriage and a family.  

-        Completeness – “Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:11).  Celestial marriage completes both the man and the woman.

-        Strength and Protection – “Circle the wagons!”  Marriage, represented by a ring where there is no opening, can be strong enough so that no enemy can penetrate.  In a draft horse competition a pair of horses yoked together can pull more than the sum of what the two horses can pull individually.  A wedding ring symbolizes that God’s law of marriage provides enormous strength and protection to individuals, families, and society.

-        Righteous Consistency – Pi is one of the most important mathematical constants.  Pi (3.14159) is the constant in determining the circumference and/or area of a circle no matter how large or small the circle is.  A wedding ring symbolizes the need for righteous consistency in marriage and family no matter how large or small that family is.

-        Equality – Legend has it that King Arthur instituted the Round Table as a means to promote equality in Camelot.  A ring symbolizes the equality of a man and a woman before God.

-        Fidelity and Commitment – A wedding ring announces to the world that we are under covenant and committed to each other and to no one else.

Testimony – A wedding ring reminds us “that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God” (Proclamation on the Family).  This essential truth is operative in worlds without number.