| Menu |
In prophetic imagery, Zion is pictured as a great tent upheld by cords fastened securely to stakes. Thus Isaiah, envisioning the latter-day glory of Israel, gathered to her restored Zion, proclaimed: "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left .... For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee." (Isa. 54:2-7.) And of the millennial Zion, Isaiah exulted: "Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: ... a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken." (Isa. 33:20.)
In keeping with this symbolism, the great areas of church population and strength, which sustain and uphold the restored Zion, are called stakes. They are the rallying points and the gathering centers for the remnants of scattered Israel. In area they cover from a few blocks to many miles; in membership they comprise from a few to several thousand saints; in organization they are divided into smaller units called wards and (in some instances) branches.
Source: McConkie, Bruce R., Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966. 764.
Stakes are presided over by a Stake Presidency.