John 10:7

‘Jesus therefore said to them again, “In very truth I tell you, I am the doorway of the sheep.”

He has made it plain that there is only one way in and out on the pathway of true life, the God-provided way. Now He expands on that way in and out, having His death in mind (John 10:15). Here we have the third of His great ‘I am' sayings. ‘I am the doorway.' See also John 10:9. He is the way in and out because He is the bread of life (John 6:35), because He is the light of life (John 8:12), and because He will lay down His life for the sheep. So the Shepherd is also the doorway.

And in the end He is the only way to the Father, the only true doorway. No man can come to the Father except by Him (John 14:6). There is no other name under Heaven given among men by which they can be saved (Acts 4:12).

This statement is lent added poignancy by the fact that often the shepherd did act as the actual door of the fold. At night he would lay across the entrance in order to prevent any encroachment by unwelcome visitors, whether animal or human, and often that door was torn by beasts or men as Jesus would be.