J.D. Mitchell
[Originally published as Doors in the Bible]
The Bible describes a number of examples where doors (or gates) are used to get across the idea of eternal consequences for bad life decisions. Let’s look now at four examples of biblical doors and their eternal consequences.
The Ark Door
In Genesis 6:16 God told Noah to put a single door in the side of the ark. Several verses later we are told that God commanded Noah, Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. In Genesis 7:16, God closed the door of the ark shutting Noah, his family, and all the animals inside.
God directed Noah to build the ark and later closed it up to protect its contents just prior to the beginning of the global Flood. He did these things because man had become exceedingly wicked and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5). Thus God brought the cataclysmic global Flood to wipe out everyone outside the ark. When God shut the door of the ark, it pictured his justice and mercy. The wicked world outside of the ark perished, but those inside (including only eight people) were rescued.
The Passover Door
In Exodus 12:13 we read, The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
Thus about a thousand years after the Flood, God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery. God instituted the Passover on the night before they were set free. If the Israelites placed the blood of a sacrificed unblemished lamb on the frame around their doors, they would be protected from God’s judgment. Today Christians have a substitute in a similar way. We have Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, whose sacrificial death on the cross has taken away our sin and protects us from eternal damnation.
The Sheep Door
In John 10:7–9, Jesus says, I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. Then in John 10:14, Jesus said he was the good Shepherd, and he would lay down his life for the sheep.
So, Jesus is the gate to keep his sheep safe. And, he did indeed lay down his life for his sheep when he died on the cross. This reminds us that he is the only one who is able to save any person from eternal hell.
The Narrow Door
In Matthew 7:13–14, Jesus says, Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. The gate of the world is very wide and enticing. Jesus will return to this world in judgment, and the vast majority of people today are heading for that judgment on the wide road.
The only way to be saved from this terrible consequence of bad decisions is to get off the wide road and enter through the narrow gate. Make a decision for Christ, the one who died for you, and then repent (turn around). See also John 14:1–6.
