وَإِذۡ أَخَذۡنَا مِنَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ مِيثَٰقَهُمۡ وَمِنكَ وَمِن نُّوحٍ وَإِبۡرَٰهِيمَ وَمُوسَىٰ وَعِيسَى ٱبۡنِ مَرۡيَمَ ۖ وَأَخَذۡنَا مِنۡهُم مِّيثَٰقًا غَلِيظًا
And [mention, O Muhammad], when We took from the prophets their covenant and from you and from Noah and Abraham and Moses and Jesus, the son of Mary; and We took from them a solemn covenant.
All human beings have entered into a covenant with Allah. This is that primordial covenant in which all souls acknowledged Him as their Lord.
But the prophets took on a second, special covenant as well: to convey the message to their own peoples, to call them to the truth, and to bear witness to the truth even under difficult conditions.
The word مِيثَٰقًا denotes a special kind of agreement whose seriousness and terms both parties fully understand. The prophets accepted this covenant knowing the situations they would be exposed to, such as rejection, persecution and loneliness, and taking responsibility for them.
This was no ordinary or simple agreement.
Notice that Allah addresses our Prophet (peace be upon him) first (وَمِنكَ — and from you), before mentioning the other great prophets in chronological order.
Besides being a source of honor for him, this underscores that, just as those great prophets faced their own trials, this surah is about him facing his own trial.
So when did this covenant take place? Before we came to earth, in that realm where the souls existed.
The prophets were given this immense responsibility before their worldly missions had even begun.