Just days before the April 2025 general conference, when thousands of people will gather to hear the words of Church leaders, a new statue was unveiled Wednesday, April 2, on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
The statue called Five Wise Virgins depicts five women from Jesus Christ’s parable of the 10 virgins found in Matthew 25:1-13. The women stand united in a pillar, looking outward and holding their lamps high.
The statue is among 14 the Church will install as part of the larger renovation work on Temple Square. Each statue will highlight key moments in the life of Jesus Christ and in Church history, acting as a visual message of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ within the grounds.
The Relief Society general presidency chose this statue from a number of different possibilities for the location. It sits just north of the reflecting pond, outside of the Relief Society Building.
As the statue was unveiled to the public and local media on Wednesday, Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson said it was every bit as magnificent as they had hoped.
“These women, the five wise virgins, were prepared for the Second Coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ,” she said. “And they didn’t just keep it. They held their lamps high.”
President Johnson said she hopes everyone who sees the sculpture notices how the women are supporting one another.
“They help each other, they support each other, and they let the light of their conversion in Jesus Christ shine for everyone,” she said.
President Johnson said this is something women do naturally and beautifully all the time.
“As women let their light shine, they make a difference,” she said. “They lift and they love, and they bring the light of the conversion of Jesus Christ to others.”
The angle of the statue allows for several of the women depicted to look toward the temple, which is also a clear message, according to President Johnson.
“We know that our lamps are filled when we participate in the ordinances of the temple,” she said. “This is a fitting location that we’re here in the shadows of the temple.”
Artist Ben Hammond said he hopes the statue inspires those who see it to feel the spirit of the ministry work done by women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“And their connection to Christ,” he said. “Because that’s what the women are doing. They’re heading toward the temple, the Lord’s house.”
Sister J. Anette Dennis, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, was struck with how the statue depicts unity.
“We are all one, we are all daughters of our Heavenly Father, and we are connected no matter who we are, no matter where we are,” she said.
Sister Dennis also said it was magnificent how the statue portrays the importance of temple covenants.
“They’re all pointed toward that covenant relationship with our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ,” she said.
The timing of the statue installation was directed by heaven, according to Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric. With continuing construction on Temple Square, some areas where new statues will be installed in the next few years are still unfinished.
“It worked out between the artist ... as well as the location that had to be ready,” Bishop Waddell said. “So the fact that this location was ready to place this sculpture now and the timing for general conference is just perfect.”
Bishop Waddell said the variety of statues being installed on Temple Square means everyone will be able to find something that speaks to them.
“As you look at all the different statues that are going to be on Temple Square, the ones that are already here and the ones that are coming, it will point us to Christ,” he said.
Another recently installed statue called Come, Follow Me was designed by Hammond, the same artist as Five Wise Virgins. It depicts Jesus Christ calling two fishermen to become His disciples.
A statue of the First Vision of Joseph Smith was added in November 2024.
Bishop Waddell said he is looking forward to the Salt Lake Temple open house, announced by Church President Russell M. Nelson for April to October 2027, and hopes people will plan now to come and join in the celebration.
“And hopefully, at that time, to feel the Spirit, to be able to draw closer to our Savior and to recognize the significance that He has in our lives.”
