Exodus 27:16, commentary and pictures

The gate of the court was the thirty-foot-wide entrance at the center of the east end of the enclosure, closed by an embroidered hanging of blue and purple and scarlet yarn with fine white linen hung from four pillars in four sockets, with fifteen-cubit plain linen hangings on either side, unlike the unadorned linen around the rest of the court which measured one hundred cubits by fifty cubits and five cubits high. It was part of the exact, detailed pattern for the tabernacle given to Moses in the mount during his forty days and nights on Sinai, to be carried out precisely by Spirit-endowed workmen and not left to human fancy. The earthly sanctuary and its ministry were a shadow and object-lesson of Christ and His sacrifice and of the heavenly temple where He now ministers as High Priest, its ceremonial ordinances finding their substance and fulfillment in Him. Its fine linen signifies the righteousness of the saints found only in Christ, and its colored hanging marks Him as the door by which sinners pass the altar and laver to come to where God dwells between the cherubim. Its eastward entrance turned worshipers westward toward God's presence with their backs to the sun, in contrast to turning eastward to worship the sun with the back toward God.

Gate and Court Described

The verse belongs to the very minute description in Exodus 25 to 40 of the sanctuary built in the days of Moses. It is part of the detailed instructions for the construction of the tabernacle and its furniture that God gave to Moses during his forty days and forty nights stay in the mount on Sinai. Those instructions show how particular God was about what pertained to His worship. Moses was to make all exactly according to the pattern shown him in the mount. The sanctuary was not left to man's fancy in size or form but was given by explicit instruction, to be carried out by men endowed with wisdom, as a sacred place where God would dwell among Israel and where their worship centered. That portable wilderness tabernacle was the dwelling place of God among Israel through the time of the kings until Solomon built the temple according to the same pattern, and both were the center of God's worship on earth with all earthly worship revolving around the holy of holies where the law of God rested beneath the mercy-seat.

The court of the tabernacle was one hundred cubits in length by fifty in breadth and five cubits, or about nine feet, in height. It was a double square fifty by one hundred cubits, seventy-five by one hundred and fifty feet, set up around the whole tabernacle as part of the habitation of God. It was enclosed by hangings of fine-twined linen suspended from pillars of brass five cubits high with sockets of brass and hooks and fillets of silver set five cubits apart, continuous except at the gate. The pillars holding the curtain of fine twined linen five cubits wide are also described as brass pillars set in silver sockets five cubits apart. The sanctuary stood between the court's sides with more open space before it at the east than behind it at the west, and the eastern space held the altar of burnt offerings where animals and other offerings were brought.

The gate was the entrance on the eastern side of the court, at the center of the east end. It was twenty cubits wide, or thirty feet, closed with a hanging of blue and purple and scarlet yarn and finely woven white linen, embroidered with needlework. Unlike the plain white linen hangings on the other sides, it was made of blue and purple and scarlet and fine-twined white linen in gorgeous colors. It was suspended from four pillars set in four sockets, with fifteen-cubit hangings on three pillars and three sockets on each side of it. To enter, the drapings had to be parted at a division between sections, or brushed aside or raised or slid with cords when the priests entered the court. It was the final curtain hung when the tabernacle was completed, after which the Lord's glory filled it.

The gate of the court was on the east end, corresponding to the door of the tabernacle at the east end in both the sanctuary Moses built and the temple Solomon built. The entrance of the sanctuary stood toward the east, different from ancient sun-worship. Those entering faced west toward the presence of God manifested in the sanctuary, turning their backs toward the east and the worship of the sun. The priest ministered with his back to the entrance and his face to the west, while turning east to worship the sun turned the back on God.

The entrance hanging is called a hanging in English, masak in Hebrew and kalumma in the Septuagint. It is also identified as a veil, showing that the tabernacle had a veil at the outer court entrance as well as at the entrance to the holy place and between the sanctuary apartments. Therefore the word veil alone does not necessarily mean the second veil separating the holy from the most holy place.

Sanctuary Type and Lessons

The sanctuary was the sacred dwelling place God asked Israel to make so He could dwell among them and reveal His love, where their worship centered and priests ministered in His presence. It was not left to human fancy in size or form but was given by explicit instruction after the pattern shown, to be carried out by men endowed with wisdom, as set forth in Exodus 25 to 31 and complied with in the record of the building. That instruction sets forth an object-lesson of His plan of government, His dealing with those who sought to dethrone Him, and His eternal plan for salvation from sin. The court belongs to that tabernacle habitation of God, set up around the whole tabernacle one hundred cubits long by fifty cubits broad and five cubits, or about nine feet, high. The word sanctuary generally means that portable wilderness tabernacle with its two holy places, later replaced by Solomon's temple built on the same pattern, and in both the center of God's worship on earth around which all earthly worship and service revolved was the holy of holies where God's law rested beneath the mercy-seat.

The entrance of the sanctuary stood toward the east, unlike ancient sun-worship, so the priest ministered with his back to the entrance and his face to the west. The earthly sanctuary with its dimensions, materials, furnishings, construction and sacrificial ministry of sacrifices and offerings was a pattern, shadow, type and impressive object-lesson pointing to Christ and to the temple of God in heaven where Jesus now ministers as High Priest and Minister of the heavenly sanctuary. Its rites gain their meaning from Christ's sacrifice, and that sacrificial ministry ended when Christ died once for all. The record moves from instruction in Exodus 25, 26, 27 and 30 to making in Exodus 36 to 39 to erection in Exodus 40, and the court gate was the final curtain hung when the tabernacle was completed, after which the Lord's glory filled it.

The gate belongs to the laws given through Moses and included in the law he was commanded to teach, the detailed law of ordinances written out after the moral law setting out offerings, sacrifices and ceremonial service. Its hanging, pillars and details were part of the sanctuary pattern given during the forty days on the mountain, ordained before Moses received the law written on stone. Those sanctuary ceremonies included burdensome requirements imposed until the time of reformation. They belong to the ceremonial system whose sacrifices could not take away sin, whose substance is found in the new dispensation and whose purpose was fulfilled in Christ. As part of the worldly sanctuary with its ordinances of divine service, they formed the ministration of the first covenant, called a ministration of death.

The court and its gate teach righteousness and Christ, for the fine-twined linen of the court hangings means the righteousness of the saints, which comes only by having Christ who is made unto believers wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, whose name is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. The blue and purple and scarlet and fine-twined linen of the court hanging, like the veil and door, is an emblem of Christ and the stages of His triumphal passage from the cross to the throne. The gate stood at the east end, corresponding to the door of the tabernacle at the east end in both the sanctuary Moses built and the temple Solomon built. It was the way the people came to where God dwelt between the cherubim, passing by the altar of burnt-offering and the laver, representing coming to the heavenly sanctuary where God dwells through Christ who is the door.

The construction used costly materials and fine linen under exact, detailed instruction, and the specifications were not written in vain or without purpose. They are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness to make the man of God perfect, and were written for learning to give patience, comfort and hope. Study of them gives clearer views of the Saviour and His work and reveals God's way, power and glory, and though their full meaning and reasons for detail are not fully grasped, studying them yields instructive lessons. God gave His Spirit to the builders so the work could be properly done, and He blesses consecrated workers in material tasks as well as spiritual ones. The gate of the court, as part of God's sanctuary, calls for examining the heart's attitude toward God's sanctuary.