Ezekiel 44:2

The gate was now a closed gate. God told Ezekiel why the gate was closed. God had used that gate, so nobody else could use it. This rule shows God’s royal authority. People used to prepare the roads before the arrival of the king (compare Isaiah 40:3). But anybody could use those roads afterwards. However, God is more important than any human king. He used this gate. And nobody else may ever enter by this way.

So the outer east gate was closed. But the other two outer gates were open. God had provided a way for people to *worship him. In reality, there was no *temple when Ezekiel saw this *vision. The *Babylonian army destroyed it completely. But God still gave this *vision to Ezekiel. And this *vision showed that God still wanted a relationship with his people. God would provide the way for them to have that relationship.

When people entered the *temple in this *vision, they had to enter by the proper route. That is, they had to enter by either the outer north gate or the outer south gate. These gates were in front of the inner gates, which were in front of the *altar. But they were not in front of the *temple building. So as the people entered, they were looking towards the place of *sacrifice. They could only have a relationship with God because of *sacrifice.

The outer east gate was never open. But on *holy days, the priests opened the inner east gate. The people would not go through this gate. They would *worship at its entrance (46:3). In order to do that, they had to turn. Perhaps this showed that they had to change their attitudes in order to *worship God. On those days, they would be looking towards the *temple building as they *worshipped. But they would not see into the *temple building, because the *altar was in front of it. So they would again see the place of *sacrifice.