Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease and flour a 9×5 bread pan, lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper or wax paper.
Stir together the buttermilk and the baking soda and set it aside. Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat together the eggs and slowly add to the creamed butter. Stir in the buttermilk and then slowly add the flour. Mix until a smooth batter is formed. Stir in the lemon zest and the pecans.
Pour in the batter and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool the bread in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes.
As the bread is cooling, mix together the lemon juice and sugar for the glaze. To apply the glaze, tear out a sheet of foil large enough to contain the loaf when wrapped. Remove the loaf from the pan by running a knife along the edges and gently tapping it out onto the sheet of foil.
Spread the glaze evenly over the top of the loaf and on the sides. Don’t worry that the glaze is runny, just be sure to contain it all when you wrap the bread with the foil.
Place in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. Serve cold. It will keep refrigerated for one week and it also freezes well.