The Temple complex was built on many different levels, but always ascending. Steps lead from one level to another. The higher one climbed, the closer one came to the Holy of Holies, the dwelling place of the Presence of YHWH. YHWH is referred to as “Elyon” some fifty-four times in the Scriptures. Elyon is translated as “Most High”. If YHWH is Most High, then the only way to approach Him is by ascending.

Gen 28:10-17
10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.
11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.
12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of YHWH were ascending and descending on it.
13 And behold, YHWH stood above it and said: "I am YHWH Elohim of Abraham your father and the Elohim of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.
14 "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
15 "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you."
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely YHWH is in this place, and I did not know it."
17 And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of Elohim, and this is the gate of heaven!"

Isn't it interesting that in a place that Jacob describes as "the House of Elohim", there are "malachim" (angels or messengers) going up and down a "sullam" (a ladder or stair-case).

I believe that this is a picture of believers, YHWH's messengers, walking in His ways in order to get closer to the King of the Universe.

Zech 3:7-10
7 "Thus says the Elohim of the armies: 'If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My command, then you shall also judge My house, and likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk among these who stand here.
8 'Hear, O Yahshua, the High Priest, you and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; for behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.
9 For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua: upon the stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave its inscription,' says the Elohim of hosts, 'And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10 In that day,' says the Elohim of hosts, 'Everyone will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree.' "

Jacob saw followers of YHWH in service to YHWH, in the place that was given to teach us how to "love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."

The Temple sits atop Mount Moriah. Moriah is based on the word morah, which means "to teach". In modern Hebrew a (female) teacher is called a morah. This shows us that the Temple was given to teach us.

Gen 22:1-2
1 Now it came to pass after these things that YHWH tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
2 And He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

The word translated "burnt offering'" is the Hebrew word olah. It is the name of an offering , but it literally means "an ascent". The sages teach that Isaac was to be offered as "an ascension", not a burned sacrifice. This is to say that he was to be spiritually elevated to a place of sanctity. The same sanctity that is upon the land of Israel. Isaac never left the land that would become Israel. If he left, he would become a "yarden", one who descends. He never crossed the River Jordan (Yarden)!

The sages say that this teaches us that our purpose for ascending Mt. Moriah and going to the Temple is to ascend spiritually. And when we leave Mt. Moriah, it is for the purpose of elevating the world. We do this by blessing YHWH in all that we do. By recognizing that He is in even the mundane tasks of our everyday lives. By learning from the pictures that YHWH placed in His Torah, we carry a spiritual elevation to the rest of the world. This teaches us to "love your neighbor as yourself."

I believe that the ascending and descending of the "malachim" in Jacob's dream, as well as the ascending and descending of YHWH’s people at the Temple mount, is a picture to teach us the truth and application of this passage:

Matt 22:34-40
34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,
36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"
37 Yahshua said to him," 'You shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
38 "This is the first and great commandment.
39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
40 "On these two commandments hang all the Torah and the Prophets."

Ascend to serve YHWH with all your heart, soul and mind. Descend to serve your neighbor. This is the heart of Torah.

--Excerpted from Let Them Measure the Pattern by Web Hulon (Available from Beth Lechem)

The Temple complex was full of many high walls--and, unlike the soreg, these were walls that were supposed to be there. Walls symbolize a concept we've almost lost today in our desire to include as many as possible. Holiness means being set apart from the outside world.

The urgency of becoming firmly grounded in our Israelite heritage is underlined by the fact that while we are being drawn back into unity with Judah, the world is also forming its own unity, and on the surface it will seem all too close to the unconditional love that popular culture has co-opted from the Gospel's original context. Soon our only choice will be to side with either Babylon or Jerusalem. If we don't build walls at this juncture in history, we'll end up building the wrong house--one that can't stand the test of fire.

Upon Your Gates

To pass through a wall, one must go through a door or gate. Gates in the Scriptures are a place of judgment :

Zech 8:16
16 These are the things you shall do: speak each man the truth to his neighbor; give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace.

The elders of a town would sit at the gates for court:

Deut 25:7
7 "But if the man does not want to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate to the elders, and say, 'My husband's brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.'"

Josh 20:4
4 "And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them."

The gates were a place for proclamation:

Jer 7:2
2 "Stand in the gate of YHWH's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of YHWH, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship YHWH!'"

To be "within the gates" of someone was to be attached to that person or city :

Deut 26:12
12 "When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year-- the year of tithing-- and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled."

Gates and doors are a picture of the openings of a person. The eyes, the ears, the mouth and the sexual organs; and sin lies at these doors:

Gen 4:4-7
4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And YHWH respected Abel and his offering,
5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6 So YHWH said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
7 "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."

The doors of our mouths are to be guarded:

Micah 7:5
5 Do not trust in a friend; do not put your confidence in a companion; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom.

Prov 17:18-19
18 A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge, and becomes surety for his friend.
19 He who loves transgression loves strife, and he who exalts his gate seeks destruction."

The eye causes us to sin:

Matt 18:9
9 "And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire."

Sexual organs, and the desires that accompany them can lead to sin:

Jude 1:7
7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."

The ears can lead us to sin:

Jer 5:19-21
19 "And it will be when you say, 'Why does YHWH our Elohim do all these things to us?' then you shall answer them, 'Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.'
20 "Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, saying,
21 'Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not."

In order to pass through the walls, we must submit our gates to the next level: Turning our eyes from things that cause us to lust, be it possessions, fame or our neighbor's spouse. Turning our ears to the still small voice of the Spirit and putting away fornication and adultery :

Col 3:5
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

And most importantly, taming our tongues, for by controlling our mouths, we can control our entire bodies:

James 3:2
2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.

II Kings 23:8
8. And he brought all the Priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the Priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate.

The above passage shows us that high places to pagan gods were placed at gates. Ex. 23:13 says the names of pagan gods should not come from our mouths (our gates) :

Exod 23:13
13 "And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth."

On the contrary, it is the Torah that should be in our mouths:

Josh 1:8
8 "This Book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

This is further illustrated by the fact that the gates were closed and guarded by night showing us that we should only let things of the light through our gates, and be on guard against the things of darkness.

Neh 7:3
3 And I said to them, "Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house."

The gates that gave entry into the sanctuary were of gold:

2 Chr 4:22
22 the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the sanctuary, its inner doors to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were gold.

This indicates an entry of purity. This is our goal. As we climb each set of steps (walking in more of YHWH's ways), we must decide to submit our gates (our mouths, ears, eyes, sexual organs) in order to enter His gates. Each submission allows us into another area of wonders, and, most importantly, brings us closer to the Father.

Rom 6:12-13
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to YHWH as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to YHWH.

The Word says that when we set our doorposts against YHWH's doorposts, we defile His Name:

Ezek 43:7-8
7 And He said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy Name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places.
8 "When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy Name by the abominations which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger."

In this passage we are told to write the Torah on the doorposts of our house:

Deut 6:6-9
6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
7 "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
8 "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9 "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Notice that the YHWH says, "on the doorposts of your house AND on your gates." One commandment is fulfilled by attaching mezuzot (boxes containing Torah passages) on our doorposts. The other commandment applies to our bodily gates and are observed in other ways:

Lev 19:27
27 'You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard.'

Num 15:38-40
38 "Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners.
39 "And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of YHWH and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined,
40 "and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your Elohim."

These passages show us that YHWH has given bodily doorposts to Israel. The tzitziyot (tassels), peyot (edge of the head), and the edges of the beard. They guard our gates. Our mouths (beard), ears and eyes (peyot) and sexual organs (tzitziyot). They are a picture of the Torah written on our bodies, a foreshadowing of this promise from Messiah:

Rev 3:12
12 "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My Elohim, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My Elohim and the name of the city of My Elohim, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My Elohim. And I will write on him My new name."

Now that we have established some general teachings of gates, let's look at a specific gate of the Temple complex:

The Shushan gate was the original opening in the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount. It is so named because of a carving of the city of Shushan, the capital of the Persian Empire, that was placed above the gate in gratitude to the Persian Emperor Darius II, who gave permission and support for the rebuilding of the Second Temple. This gate is no longer visible, but a sealed Byzantine-era gate stands directly above the original gate.

The Shushan Gate was originally built for entering the Temple complex. It was in a direct visual line with the all of the inner openings of the Temple. If all of the gates were open, you could see directly into the Holy Place, right up to the first veil. It was the original opening in Solomon's Temple Mount, long before it was called "The Shushan Gate". People started to enter the Temple Mount from the south at a later time, but probably no later than the Hasmonean Dynasty. This entrance did not allow one to see up to the Holy Place, after entering the sacred area, without quite a walk. This teaches us two things:

First: YHWH had prepared a place for Adam; Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden). This was a place where YHWH would walk with Adam and spend time in conversation. It was a place where a relationship with YHWH was natural. There was no sin, only beauty. Every provision had been made. It was Paradise. The only thing required of Adam was obedience. If he obeyed YHWH's instruction, he was free to partake of all of the fruits, to enjoy the wife YHWH had given him, to live a life of ease. There was one gate to Paradise: OBEDIENCE.

When Adam sinned, YHWH cast him from the garden, to till the soil for the rest of his days. He gave him troublesome children, and even worse, death:

Gen 3:17-23
17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return."
20 And Adam called his wife's name Hava, because she was the mother of all living.
21 Also for Adam and his wife YHWH Elohim made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
22 Then YHWH Elohim said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"--
23 therefore YHWH Elohim sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.

He sealed the eastern entrance to the garden, by placing Cherubim and a flaming sword there. It is very interesting that the only opening in the eastern wall is now sealed. No one can enter through it:

Gen 3:24
24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

The entrance from the south required climbing many steps, ascending through a tunnel and walking across a courtyard. When you reached the point that you could see into the complex, you were in line with the original entrance.

YHWH required only obedience from Adam in order for him to experience the fullness of His provision. Since sin came, much more is required. We must believe on the blood of Yahshua, (the seed that was bruised) and His resurrection (the seed that bruised the serpent's head). We must confess our sins and repent, we must go through a process of becoming separate by learning to put YHWH, and our brethren, first:

Rom 10:8-13
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Master Yahshua and believe in your heart that YHWH has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Master over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
13 For "whoever calls on the name of YHWH shall be saved."

Acts 17:29-31
29 "Therefore, since we are the offspring of YHWH, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising.
30 "Truly, these times of ignorance YHWH overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
31 "because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."

Col 3:5
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

This journey must be taken in order for us to be in line with the entrance to the fullness of the kingdom. Now, we are in a place to begin where Adam failed. Obedience. As you walk in YHWH's Torah (instruction), you will begin to experience the benefits of the Kingdom of YHWH. A relationship with King of the Universe. A place of provision.

This brings us to the second teaching. We can approach the Word of YHWH, in two ways. The way that YHWH intended is Hebraic. He gave the entire Scriptures to the Hebrews. It was written from a Hebraic perspective, complete with Hebraic idioms and everyday terms. The shortest, most defined route is a Hebraic approach.

The other choice is a Greek Approach. It is the long way around. While some people may eventually learn the Kingdom in their Greek-oriented Christianity, they sure waste a lot of time, energy and emotion when compared to the intended approach.

Also...
Watch for our coming companion video series on The Ins and Outs of the Temple