At the end there is one more gate identified here as the Inspection Gate, but which in Hebrew is commonly referred to as the Gate of Judgment. The Bible repeatedly records the ancient practice of kings and judges to hold trials and business meetings in the gates of a city. When Jesus comes back there will be two judgments: one for the saved and one for the unsaved. There are two judgment seats of Christ according to Scripture. The unsaved appear before the “thronos”, the Judge of the condemnation; the saved appear before the “bema” to learn the magnitude of their reward.
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The previous gates covered the north, west, and south sides of Jerusalem; now we proceed to the east side which is closest to what is seen today in the archeology of the Old City. The eastern wall faces the Mount of Olives separated by the Kidron Valley and here we first come to the Horse Gate. It is important to note the difference between the function of a horse in ancient times from other similar animals. Whereas donkeys and camels were used for transport and sheep and cattle the source of meat and materials, horses had only one purpose: it was the animal of war. It was used for pulling chariots and for mounted cavalry.
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The Fountain Gate is where we find the Pool of Siloach which is not only where the water is brought into the city but the place where Jesus would open the eyes of the blind man. Scripture teaches that this freshly clean waters was called “chay mayim” — “living water” which in Isaiah and John is always a type or figure of the Holy Spirit. It seems that every generation wants to see the Living Water flow, to see the working of the Holy Spirit. But it will not happen unless they go back to the basics. You do not jump directly to the Fountain Gate but arrive there having first gone through the Sheep and Fish Gates, the Old and Ephraim Gates, and the Valley and Refuse Gates.

It always begins with a return to the work of the cross. If this initial step is not properly taken, everything subsequent to it is corrupted further and further. But having come to the cross, the choice is do you want to take the Old Gate or the fruitful gate? Many fail to realize we must go through a long valley of trial and rid ourselves of a lot of the garbage in our lives. We all want the Living Water to flow, but it is not going to flow until God gets rid of the garbage that is clogging up the drains, clogging up the pipes, clogging up the waste system. There’s too much rubbish. THEN comes the Fountain Gate.

But the next gate, the Water Gate, is found at the other terminal of Hezekiah’s tunnel which flows from the Fountain Gate to the Water Gate. God does not want us to just have a fountain; He wants us to have a pool. He wants us to be immersed in His Spirit. His desire is for a Spirit-filled life, a Spirit-filled church. It is the inevitable spiritual destination of those who have taken all the proper formative steps to return to the cross, resist returning to the old life, enduring the refining process of trials, and getting rid of all the garbage clogging up the works. It is a picture of the working of sanctification. _††_†

The next gate we come to is the Valley Gate which also leads to another gate called the Refuse Gate, outside of which was found the garbage pit of Jerusalem where the Tyropean Vaelly meets the Valley of Hinnom. This is the valley where backslidden Judah sacrificed their children to Molech. ^[1] Outside this gate was the garbage pit which burned day and night called “Gehenna”, the same word which Scripture uses and is translated as “hell”.
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The next gate built was the Old Gate, be we also know that next to it was another gate called the Gate of Ephraim. “Ephraim” means “fruitfulness” or “doubly fruitful”. As a Christian progresses there will be two choices: the Old Gate and the Gate of Ephraim. We might be called like sheep (the Sheep Gate) and caught like fish (the Fish Gate), but basically what comes into play is the real life application of the Parable of the Sower. ^[1] Will we return to the old life or, growing more and more into the image and likeness of Christ, prove to be fruitful Christians?
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Next to the first gated called the “Sheep Gate” is found the Tower of Hananel (which means “God’s mercy”) and the Tower of Me’ah (which means “one hundred”). This is the gate by which the sheep were brought into to Jerusalem to be sacrificed in the Temple. Remember Jesus’ illustration of a shepherd leaving the ninety-nine to look for the one? ^[1] A proper flock was one that had to be at least one hundred. The first gate listed as being built is a spiritual representation of returning to Christ, of returning to the fold.

Sometimes we go astray. Sometimes we backslide. Especially in times of crisis we wrongly feel that the Lord has abandoned us and we wander off. Fortunately for us the Good Shepherd comes after us because He does not want to lose any of the sheep. The Sheep Gate is representative of Christ’s statement, “My sheep will hear My voice“. ^[2]

But the next gate is the Fish Gate as in, “I will make you fishers of men“. ^[3] When we were born again we were “caught”. Remember how when the apostles fished they kept one hundred fifty-three? ^[4] There are good fish and there are bad fish. Some people will go back to the world. These gates really combine to provide a picture of the beginning of a much greater spiritual process.

But note that in the course of setting out to rebuild what was devastated that “The nobles did not support the work of their masters“. Very often the people it is logical to think would be the most ready and most capable of contributing the most cannot be trusted with the work. It is a historical pattern that revivals are not often populated by those who have been saved the longest, know the Bible best, or are the most affluent or educated. Most of the time God has brought such things about through the poor and working classes. This is because to rebuild something may jeopardize their comfort or their position and they would rather not rock the status quo. The nobles do not support the work of the masters; it is the salt of the earth people who are going to get things done.

The sequence of the restoration of the gates of Jerusalem is a picture of the total restoration of a believer, each gate restored in a sequence that is consistent with a greater teaching representing the whole process. It begins with spiritual restoration on the most fundamental level of the sheep returning to the fold, of the fish being retrieved from the depth and intensity of the waters of the world. Every revival as such begins with a return to the work of the cross. _††_†

It began with “all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands”. This was a rejection of all those who sought to join with and influence God’s people at the most personal level. Instead of embracing these peoples’ beliefs and ways, this casting off of earthly influences was combined with seeking to replace it with “the law of God”. In today’s political environment, this would be labeled as “intolerance”, “closed mindedness”, and even “hate speech”. The Bible here describes it as “all those who had knowledge and understanding”.
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