"When the people of the land come before the LORD on the appointed feast days, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate; and whoever enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. He shall not return by way of the gate through which he came, but shall go out through the opposite gate. The prince shall then be in their midst. When they go in, he shall go in; and when they go out, he shall go out" (Ezekiel 46:9,10).
This is a set of foot-traffic rules for Ezekiel's Messianic temple. In that day, when the people of the Lord come into the temple to worship, they are invited to enter by one entrance and go out by the gate on the opposite side: If they come in from the north side they are to go out by the south side and vice versa. The purpose of this instruction was to promote order and prevent congestion within the narrow confines of the temple courtyard.
But Ezekiel adds a wondrous note. "The Prince will be in their midst. When they go in, he shall go in; and when they go out, he shall go out."
Some envision this scene taking place in a millennial temple, rebuilt according to Ezekiel's exact blueprint. Others see it taking place symbolically in Jesus’ present kingdom. That’s an argument I’ll readily leave to the experts.
In either case can we not see something wondrous in this scene? We go into God's presence each morning and find that Jesus has entered that place with us, There he worships with us and intercedes with and for us. We listen to him; he listens to us. His presence makes these quiet moments a lavish feast.
And then we go out into our wild and wooly, willy-nilly, plague-ridden world and find, wonder of wonders, that our Lord Jesus has gone out with us in all of his power and majesty. We and our Prince come in and go out together—an ingress and egress that will go on forever: "The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore" (Psalm 121:18).
F.B. Meyer wrote, "He never puts His sheep forth without going before them. He never thrusts us into the fight without preceding us. If we have to take the way of the Cross, we may always count on seeing Him go first, though we follow Him amazed. No ascent so steep that we cannot see His form in advance; no stones so sharp that are not flecked with His blood; no fire so intense that One does not go beside us, whose form is like the Son of God; no waters so deep that Emmanuel does not go beside us."
David Roper
10.13.20
