The Other Side of the Gate
"A wall great and high . . . and twelve gates ... on the east, three gates; on the north, three gates; on the south, three gates; and on the west, three gates." Rev. 21:12
The city of God does two things in this passage, it repels and invites.
First, it has “a wall great and high” that fences it from the outside. Yet it also has twelve gates, as if that blessed City had no desire to keep any out. Question. Is it a complicated thing, or easy, to be a citizen of that place? To answer this, we must look closely.
Walls, great and high, border heaven. Why? Because the LORD would have us see that all is blocked off from our side. A wall against self-will, self-work, and self-righteousness fences the soul from its fellowship. In other words, there are no gates by works, no entrance by deeds, and no access by external religion. All paths are cut off to the efforts of man. We must come by His door, through His means, by the true and living way, or not at all. Does this mean there is only one gate to enter through? Some would think so. But they would be mistaken.
Look at how many gates there are! Twelve, to be exact. And while every citizen has washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, they have not all come by the same gate. And this makes sense. If Paul said, “I became all things to all men,” how much more so his Master? For instance, Paul and Nathaniel could never have entered through the same gate. Paul gave up his will through great struggle. The stiffness of his pharisaical heart had to die a hard death by blinding Light. On the other hand, Nathaniel yielded with little more than a sigh. He was born under the fig tree, and his heart was not led by trial. It was led by love. So, tell me, will their gate experience be the same? How can they be? They entered by separate paths. Within the city, they will even tell of different experiences; Paul will praise the thorn, and Nathaniel will extol the fig.
Dear one, the City of our God has many gates for the twelve tribes of man. The abode of Christ has doors on every side. Some open to the rugged north, by way of trouble. Some by the sunny south, through quiet paths. Some have their entrance from the glowing east, invited by the hope of morning. Some from the west, by way of life's setting sun. Some have come in at Bethlehem's gate, the meeting of heaven and earth. Still, others entered by Calvary's gate, drawn by the weight of sin. Some found entrance through His Olivet’s discourses, others through Jacob’s Well. The gates are twelve, dear one, not only meaning complete, but also many. Yet they all enter the same rest, by the Builder of that City, Who washed them, and made them white in His fountain opened for sin and uncleanness.
Within this Holy City, these diverse souls will forever unite. They quarreled, fought, and denied each other’s door outside the gates. But within the gates, each entrance is revealed and explained. And they will continue to gather. Until all twelve-gate-travelers blend into one voice at the throne of the Lamb. There the twelve tribes of Christ’s heart shall meet. In heaven. As the whole family of God.