![](https://i0.wp.com/timesandseasons.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/543px-Menorah_0307.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)
Truman G. Madsen once wrote: “Religious literature, ancient and modern, is replete with images of a tree of life that is to be planted in a goodly land by a pure stream. Some typologies regard it as the link at the very navel of the earth—the source of nourishment between parent and child—and place it at the temple mount in Jerusalem, where heaven and earth meet. The fruit of this tree is most precious.”[1] The tree of life is often portrayed as a tree from heaven, a symbol of paradise or of God’s presence itself. Hence, it is fitting that imagery of the tree of life is often present in the temples—places where heaven and earth meet. The tree of life tends to be found in places where God is present. An interesting article published in the Ensign years ago observed: “Tree of life symbolism permeates the Old Testament. The tree symbolizes not only eternal life but also God’s presence. For example, Adam and Eve’s exclusion from the tree was also exclusion from the presence of the Lord. Thus, whenever man regained God’s presence, a tree of life representation was used to symbolize that reunion.”[2] The initial tree of life is found in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve “heard the sound of the Lord God walking the garden” (Genesis 3:8). When they were cast out from the garden and the tree, they were “cut off both temporally…