D&C 45 — Signs of the Second Coming, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, and the New Jerusalem
Our woodstove sits in the corner of the shop and in the winter I feed it all day. Scraps from the bench, shavings from the plane, the cutoff ends that are too short for anything else. It burns hot and fast and I have to keep adding to it or the fire dies. That is the rhythm of it. Heat and ash and the need to stay close enough to keep feeding it.
I was thinking about that while I read D&C 45. The harvest metaphor at the beginning and the way the Lord talks about the summer passing. If you have not gathered by then, the field goes empty. The urgency is quiet but it is real.
Signs of the Second Coming in Doctrine and Covenants 45
The middle of this section contains a dense series of warnings that are hard to miss. Jesus describes what the world will look like before He returns and it is not subtle. Wars and rumors of wars, the love of men waxing cold, earthquakes and sickness spreading across the earth. The text does not hold back.
"And in that day shall be heard of wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men's hearts shall fail them, and they shall say that Christ delayeth his coming until the end of the earth." (D&C 45:26)
How you respond to the signs matters more than the signs themselves. Jesus says that to His disciples and the instruction is specific. See that you be not troubled. This command is about remaining untroubled rather than stockpiling supplies or reading headlines for hidden codes. The heart that stays steady through commotion is the one that has learned where its anchor is.
Jesus uses the fig tree as a comparison. When you see the leaves coming you know summer is near. The signs are the leaves. They tell you what season it is. They are meant to orient you, not frighten you.
Earthquakes and sickness and the darkening of the sun and the moon turning to blood. There is blood and fire and smoke rising in the heavens. The list is heavy but the purpose is straightforward. Pay attention and know what time it is. Do not let the chaos become your focus.
Meaning of the Parable of the Ten Virgins in D&C 45
The Lord explicitly connects His coming to the parable of the ten virgins. He says the parable will be fulfilled when He comes in His glory.
"And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins." (D&C 45:56)
The oil is the Holy Spirit and that is the simplest reading. I think it is the right one. Having oil in your lamp means something steady and quiet rather than flashy or dramatic. It is about having something inside you that burns when the situation calls for it. The kind of readiness that comes from years of small faithful choices.
The wise virgins had extra oil. The foolish ones had enough to start but not enough to last. That is the part I think about most. It is one thing to have faith when things are normal. It is another thing to have enough faith to carry you through a long night.
The promise at the end of the parable is that those who have the Spirit as their guide and have not been deceived will abide the day. They will inherit a world where children grow up without sin unto salvation. That is what all the waiting and the watching is for.
How to Stand in Holy Places During the Last Days
Jesus gives a simple instruction. My disciples shall stand in holy places and shall not be moved. The phrasing is careful. He does not say find a holy place and stay there. He says stand in holy places. The action is yours.
A holy place is a condition, and location alone does not determine it. You can be standing in a desert and be in a holy place if you have the Spirit with you. You can be in a temple and be spiritually absent if your heart is somewhere else. The ground becomes holy when the covenant is active.
I think of it like the workbench in my shop. The bench is just a slab of maple on a frame. But when I am working carefully with a piece of wood, that bench becomes the center of something important. The holiness is in the attention you bring to it.
The section also describes Christ as our Advocate with the Father.
"Hearken unto me, saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, your Advocate, who knoweth the weakness of man and knoweth whereunto temptation is." (D&C 45:3, paraphrase)
He is the one who pleads for us based on His own suffering. The chapter that describes the most violent upheavals in history opens with the gentlest image in scripture. The wounded King interceding for His people. That frame changes how you read everything else.
What Does It Mean for the Love of Men to Wax Cold
This phrase appears in verse 27 and it has always struck me as the subtlest sign on the list. Wars and earthquakes are visible. A cooling of love is invisible until you are already in the middle of it. You cannot see the temperature dropping from the outside.
I think this sign is the most relevant to daily life. You do not have to look for wars or blood moons to check whether the love in your heart is waxing cold. You can look at how you treat the people closest to you. The neighbor you do not want to help. The family member you are holding a grudge against. The person at church you avoid because they annoy you. That is where the cooling happens.
The opposite of a cold heart is not a loud heart. It is a steady one. The kind of love that survives the long night is the same kind of oil that keeps the lamp burning. It is not dramatic. It just lasts.
Where Will the New Jerusalem Be Built and Why
The last part of the section commands the gathering of the saints to purchase an inheritance and build a city. The Lord calls it the New Jerusalem.
"And it shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High God." (D&C 45:66)
The New Jerusalem is described as a land of peace and a city of refuge. The condition of the people who live there is what makes it a refuge. The city itself provides the structure but the people provide the safety.
I have been reading through these D&C sections in order and this one feels like a hinge point. The previous section, D&C 44, talks about gathering and preparation. D&C 45 makes clear what that preparation is for. It is not just survival. It is building something that can last through what is coming.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main signs of the Second Coming mentioned in D&C 45
The key signs include global wars and rumors of wars, the love of many growing cold, widespread sickness, earthquakes and astronomical signs like the darkening of the sun and the moon turning to blood. Jesus also describes the fall of Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jews as earlier fulfillments of the same prophecy.
What does it mean to stand in holy places in the context of the last days
It means maintaining spiritual stability through covenants and consistent discipleship. A holy place is anywhere you are living the covenant. The temple is a holy place and so is your home or your community or your heart when you are faithfully keeping promises to God. The standing is active. The not being moved is the result.
What is the purpose of the New Jerusalem mentioned in this section
The New Jerusalem is intended as a city of refuge and a land of peace where the gathered saints can find sanctuary before and during the events preceding the Second Coming. It is both a literal location and a symbol of the kind of society that covenant-keeping people build together.
What does the parable of the ten virgins teach about spiritual preparation
The parable teaches that readiness cannot be borrowed. The oil represents the Holy Spirit and a personal reservoir of spiritual strength. The wise virgins had extra oil because they had been building their supply over time. The foolish ones had only what they started with. Preparation is a slow accumulation of small faithful choices.
The woodstove burns down overnight if I do not feed it before I go to bed. I have learned that the hard way more times than I want to admit. Waking up to a cold shop and having to start the fire from scratch. The embers are still there but they need kindling and patience and a steady hand with the bellows before they catch again.
The signs are easy to read about and hard to live through. I do not know what the next years will bring. But I know the pattern. The summer will end but the harvest goes into the barn.
-- D.