The initial pairing needs to be close to the hub so that the lock can exchange an encryption key with the hub. This is sometimes called “whisper distance.” Typically it’s within a couple of feet. But it doesn’t matter whether you bring the lock to the hub or the hub to the lock, they just need to be close together at the time of the initial pairing so the key can be exchanged.
There is an additional issue which the OP in this thread was fortunate enough not to run into, but which a number of other community members have, which is that the schlage model performs a bolt calibration at the time of pairing. For this reason, if you don’t have it installed in its intended location at the time that you do the pairing, this calibration may be off, causing the lock to jam after you move it. 
Additionally, with most Z wave locks, if the encryption key exchange fails for any reason, the lock will say that it didn’t pair. Schlage treats it differently, and it may go ahead and pair even if the encryption exchange is not successful, at which point the lock will show as paired but you won’t be able to lock or unlock it from the hub. This specific issue is the reason why we have a separate FAQ in the forum just for Schlage locks that failed to pair.
If you tried pairing a schlage lock and for any reason The lock doesn’t work correctly after that, follow the instructions in the FAQ exactly, you should have no problem pairing the lock in place. But you will need to bring the hub close to it.
Again, you can get lucky – – if you don’t have the lock in the door but the calibration happens to be the same as it would be once it is installed in the door, you won’t run into the jamming problem. But as with most devices, you will have the highest likelihood of success if you follow the manufacturer’s directions, which in this case say to install the lock first. 