A shadow of the true
The Gate
The whole court had one opening. A traveller coming toward the tabernacle could walk its entire perimeter of plain white linen and find only a single place to enter, a wide, colored gate on the eastern side.
“And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.”Exodus 27:16
What it was
What it was. "And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four" (Exodus 27:16). Where the surrounding wall was plain white linen, the gate was a woven hanging of four colors, blue, purple, scarlet, and white, hung on four pillars. It was twenty cubits wide, a broad and unmistakable opening, and it stood on the east, facing the rising sun, the same direction from which the camp of Judah approached (Exodus 27:13-16, Numbers 2:3). There was no second entrance. Anyone bringing a sacrifice, whatever his tribe or standing, came in through this one gate to reach the altar within. The colored curtain marked the threshold plainly against the white wall, so that no one seeking God's appointed place of worship could mistake where to enter. Its width made it welcoming; its singleness made it exclusive. One way in, but a way wide enough for all Israel.
The pattern and its meaning
The pattern and its meaning. The gate taught Israel that access to God is neither everywhere nor nowhere; it is at one appointed place. The plain wall offered no entry along its whole length, but at the gate the way stood open and clearly marked. This is grace bounded by truth. God did not leave the sinner to find his own opening or climb the wall where he pleased, nor did He shut the way altogether; He set one gate, broad and visible, and bid all Israel come through it. The four colors of the gate matched the colors of the veil and the inner coverings, quietly linking the outer threshold to the innermost sanctuary, as if to say that the way in at the court is of a piece with the way to the Presence. The singleness of the gate is its sharpest lesson. There were not many doors suiting many preferences; there was one, and to refuse it was to remain outside, not for want of welcome but for refusal of the way.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. Jesus said, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (John 10:9), and "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). The single gate is among the clearest of the tabernacle's pictures, and it matches the Lord's own words exactly: one entrance, wide enough for all who will come, yet the only entrance there is. As every Israelite reached the altar only through that colored gate, so every sinner reaches God only through Christ. The identification of the gate with a specific detail of His person is a traditional reading, but its central meaning, one appointed door into the presence of God, is stated by Jesus Himself without hint of many ways. The gate's breadth answers those who fear they will be turned away, and its singleness answers those who imagine other roads. Come, but come by the door.
Questions people ask
Why was there only one gate into the court?
The single gate taught that access to God is by His appointed way alone. Jesus made the same claim of Himself as the one door and the one way to the Father, so the tabernacle's single entrance pictures the exclusiveness of the gospel.
What did the colors of the gate mean?
The blue, purple, scarlet, and white of the gate matched the colors of the inner veil and coverings. Teachers see in them hints of Christ's heavenly origin, kingship, suffering, and righteousness, though Exodus states the colors without interpreting each one, so these readings are traditional.
Was the gate hard to find or hidden?
No. It was twenty cubits wide, brightly colored against the plain white wall, and set on the east where Israel approached. It was made to be found. The way in was single but unmistakable and generously wide.