Answers about
gates of the Bible

The first gate mentioned in Scripture is the city gate of Sodom where Lot was sitting and instantly recognized when 2 angels entered one evening.

Then the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them and rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. —Genesis 19:1

Activites at city gates

Types of gates

Many types of gates are mentioned in Scripture.

  1. Gates of cities

    All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates and bars… —Deuteronomy 3:5 NASB

    Examples:

    • Jerusalem’s gates (Jeremiah 37:13; Neh. 1:3; 2:3; 3:3)

    • Sodom’s gate

    • Gaza’s gates

      Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. When it was told to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let us wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.” Now Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron. —Judges 16:1-3 NASB

  2. Gates of fortresses and royal palaces

    …a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the house of God, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me. —Nehemiah 2:8

  3. Prison gates

    When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. —Acts 12:10

    And the keeper of the prison was awaked, and saw the gates of the prison opened… —Acts 16:27 Wycliffe Bible

    …the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened… —Acts 16:27 NASB

  4. Camp gates

    Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD's side?… “Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp…” —Exodus 32:26-27 KJV

    For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. —Hebrews 13:11-13 ESV

  5. Tomb gates or doors

    “…rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre…” —Matthew 27:60 KJV

    “…against the door of the tomb…” —Matt. 27:60 NKJV

    “…against the entrance…” —Matt. 27:60 NASB

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  6. Gates of the Holy Tabernacle

    “He erected the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the veil for the gateway of the court.” … —Exodus 40:33 NASB excerpt

  7. Gates of the Holy Temples of God

    Temple of Solomon

    and two doors of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots, and the two leaves of the other door turned on pivots. He carved on it cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the engraved work. —1 Kings 6:34-35

    …Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. —2 Kings 18:16 NASB

    Gate of the Holy Place

    For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, the lintel, and five-sided doorposts. So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. —1 Kings 6:31-32

    The nave and the sanctuary each had a double door.
    Each of the doors had two leaves, two swinging leaves; two leaves for one door and two leaves for the other. —Ezekiel 41:23-24

    Gates of the outer courts of the temple, such as the Beautiful gate of Herod’s temple

    And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. —Acts 3:2 NASB

    Golden Gate, Old City Jerusalem, Israel
    Golden Gate, Old City Jerusalem, Israel

    The Golden Gate (also called East Gate, Eastern Gate, or Shushan Gate) is an ancient sealed gate in the eastern wall of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is situated on the eastern side of the Temple Mount, providing access to the Temple area from the Kidron Valley. The gate has been sealed since the 16th Century AD.

    The Golden Gate does not date to the time of Solomon or Christ, but rather to the 6th Century AD (around 520s AD), and was possibly built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In Jewish tradition, it is believed that the Messiah will enter Jerusalem through this gate. This belief is what led to its sealing by various rulers throughout history to prevent any false messiah from entering.

    This gate is also linked to Islamic beliefs, where it is referred to as the Mercy Gate, with the notion that the just will pass through it on the Day of Judgment.

    Huldah Gates (the Double Gate and the Triple Gate)—built as part of the extend Temple Mount by Herod the Great. These were long ago destroyed. Today, 2 later sets of gates are now called the Huldah Gates.

    Gates of Righteousness

    Open to me the gates of righteousness;
    I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to Yah. —Psalm 118:19 LSB

    This is probably a poetic name for the gates of the Holy Tabernacle or the Temple through which the worshipper passed to come into the presence of God.

Gates of ancient city of Jerusalem

Gates of Modern Jerusalem’s Old City walls

These were 16th Century AD creations built over ancient foundations.

Gates of New Jerusalem

These future 12 gates will exist during the Millennium (the 1,000 year physical reign of Christ on this Earth) and will be named after the 12 tribes of Israel.

And the 12 gates were 12 pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. —Revelation 21:21 NASB

These pearl gates are obviously large enough to allow passage of people (clearly not ordinary pearls), and one may assume they are iridescent. And the old is clearly different than the very dense, opaque element called “gold” with which we are familiar.

These gates will never be shut (Rev. 21:25), but will each be guarded by an angel (Rev. 21:12). Only those humans whose names are in the Lamb’s Book of Life may enter (Rev. 21:27).

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Gates of Hades or Gates of Hell

…I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. —Matthew 16:18 KJV, ESV

…gates of Hades… —Matthew 16:18 NASB; Matt. 16:18 NKJV, NRSV

This is often interpreted as meaning the power of Satan, but more likely means the power of death, denoting that the Church of Christ shall never be stopped and shall never die.

This Jewish phrase, then, refers to death. Even death, the ultimate weapon of Satan (cf. Hebrews 2:14-15), has no power to stop the church. The blood of martyrs, in fact, has led to the growth of the Church in size and spiritual power. —Dr. John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible

Gate construction

The materials of which gates were made (or will be)…

  1. Wood (Judges 16:3)

  2. Iron and brass (Psalm 107:16; Isaiah 45:2; Acts 12:10)

  3. Stones

  4. “Pearls” (Isaiah 54:12; Rev. 21:21)

Other physical gates mentioned

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Article Version: January 14, 2026