What Does It Mean to “Gird Up Your Loins”?

As the children of Israel prepared for the final plague that would persuade Pharaoh to release them from slavery, the Lord gave them specific instructions. They should kill a blemish-free lamb, mark their doorposts with its blood, then roast the meat and eat it all before morning. They were to do this not comfortably clothed, but ready for travel:

And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover.

Exodus 12:11

Throughout the Old Testament, “girding up one’s loins” is associated with readiness to act.

• Elijah “girded up his loins” to outrun King Ahab after calling down fire from heaven and ending a famine (1 Kings 18:46).
• On two occasions, as Elisha sent people on specific errands, he began his instructions with the command, “Gird up thy loins” (2 Kings 4:29; 9:1).
• God gave the same command as He called Jeremiah to be a prophet: “Gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee” (Jeremiah 1:17).
• The Lord used the phrase twice as a metaphorical instruction to Job: “Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me” (Job 38:3, Job 40:7). He wasn’t telling Job to literally get dressed, but rather to activate his mind and prepare to be taught.

Jesus alluded to the passover instructions as He taught His disciples how to prepare for His Second Coming:

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;

And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.

Luke 12:35-36

And Peter later used the same imagery as he encouraged fellow disciples to be in a state of perpetual readiness:

Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:13

When Captain Moroni saw that the freedom of his people was in jeopardy, he ripped his coat and wrote a message intended to rally his people. He then “girded on his armor about his loins,” said a prayer, and went to work (Alma 46:13). As people responded to his call, they “came running together with their armor girded about their loins” as well (Alma 46:21). Their physical dress indicated their mental and spiritual readiness to defend their freedoms.

Ten times in modern revelation, the Lord instructs His disciples to gird up their loins. (See Doctrine and Covenants 27:15; 36:8; 38:9; 43:19; 61:38; 73:6; 75:22; 106:5; 112:7, 14.) Like the ancient Israelites, we must stand ready to act as His work rolls forward, sometimes quickly. On one occasion, He says, “I will gird up their loins, and they shall fight manfully for me” (Doctrine and Covenants 35:14). Girding up our loins isn’t something we do alone. God will help us to be properly “clothed” to do His work.

Isaiah prophesied that righteousness and faithfulness would be the girdle of the Savior’s loins (Isaiah 11:5; 2 Nephi 21:5; 30:11). In modern revelation, the Lord has urged His disciples to follow His example, taking righteousness in our hands and faithfulness upon our loins (Doctrine and Covenants 63:37). We follow His admonition to “gird up our loins” when we do good works and follow his instructions.

As pioneers crossed the plains to establish their Zion in the Rocky Mountains, they bolstered their own collective faith by singing these words regularly:

Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake.

“Come, Come Ye Saints,” Hymns, 30

Today I will “gird up my loins.” I will strive to be ready to serve, courageous in doing what must be done, and mentally prepared for the continued unfolding of God’s work on the earth and in my life.