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John 10:6-9 I Am The Door
John 10:6-10 MKJV Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they did not understand what it was which He spoke to them. (7) Then Jesus said to them again, Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. (8) All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. (9) I am the door. If anyone enters in by Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture.
Jesus says, “I am the door of the sheep”. Now the word “door” has a mystical meaning as the entrance to the soul. In this study we will look at the initial references to the “door” in Scripture, and make a case for this being a very special word with very deep meanings indeed. Here we go!
The very first use of the word “door” in Scripture is in the words of the Lord to Cain:
Genesis 4:7 MKJV If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at the door; and its desire is for you, and you shall rule over it.
This is evidently not a literal door, it is the door of Cain’s soul, which can admit evil or refuse it. The “principle” of first reference” states that: The first appearance of a word or phrase often serves as the basis of its theological meaning from that point on in Scripture. The meaning may expand but the first reference is nearly always the core meaning. So we see that “the door’ is the entrance to the soul, that is under human control and can admit or refuse evil.
The next reference to the word “door” in Scripture is the door to salvation:
Genesis 6:16 MKJV You shall make a window in the ark, and you shall finish it above to a cubit. And you shall set the door of the ark in the side of it. You shall make it with lower, second and third stories.
This door to salvation was closed by the Lord, just prior to the Flood: Genesis 7:16 MKJV And they that entered, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him. And Jehovah shut him in.
Thus “door” represents divine opportunity, here for salvation in the ark, and later for salvation in Christ, and this opportunity may close just prior to divine judgment falling. (Matthew 25:10; Luke 12:25). The door of salvation theme is later taken up in Exodus during the Passover when the blood of the Lamb is to be applied to the “doorposts”.
Exodus 12:22 MKJV And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip in the blood in the bowl, and strike the lintel and the doorposts with the blood in the bowl. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
The next reference to “door” in Genesis is to God’s momentous encounter with Abraham:
Genesis 18:1 MKJV And Jehovah appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he sat at the tent door in the heat of the day.
This is the door of spiritual experience, the place of meeting God in the soul and of receiving divine promises. This door opens to meditation and contemplation and to the faith of the believer.
Revelation 3:20 MKJV Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with Me.
This theme of the “door” as a place of spiritual encounter continues with Lot’s salvation brought about by angels who “came to the door”. Lot is someone who is in a deep struggle with an evil environment that assails him “at the door” and the door becomes the vital battleground for all the follows.
Genesis 19:10-11 MKJV But the men put out their hands and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. (11) And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
Later the “door” is a place of oaths, formal agreements, anointing and ordination. For instance the pledging of loyalty by a slave also happened at the door:
And the anointing and ordination of the Aaronic priests was done at the door of the tabernacle:
Exodus 29:4-7 MKJV And you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall wash them with water. (5) And you shall take the garments, and clothe Aaron with the tunic, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breast pocket, and bind it to him with the band of the ephod. (6) And you shall put the miter upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the miter. (7) Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour on his head, and anoint him.
And the place of God’s presence and the people’s worship:
There are over 50 references to the “door of the tabernacle” as the place of sacrifice and ceremony. It was where business was done with God. Thus when Eli’s sons defiled it with fornication they were killed by the Lord. (1 Samuel 2:22-25)
Thus the “door” is the place of great spiritual transactions where the soul is made or destroyed and where business is done with God. By saying that He is the door of the sheep Jesus is comparing Himself with the door of the tabernacle through which people found the Presence of God and where the great sacrifices and anointing took place.
What matters with a door is where you are in relation to it. Are you inside the door or outside it? Is it open to you or is it shut against you? Are you welcomed or rejected? Have you entered in fully or are you still standing outside? The door changes everything, going through it means all the difference between standing outside in the heat or the rain, or being inside in loving fellowship. The door represents a spiritual choice, a moment of decision: Revelation 3:20 MKJV Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with Me.
So when Jesus says; “I am the door. If anyone enters in by Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture.” He is saying that He is the entrance to true deep and abundant spiritual experience. He is the “narrow gate” that we must go through for the world of the Spirit to be opened up to us.
Matthew 7:13-14 MKJV Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it. (14) Because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Luke 13:23-24 MKJV And one said to Him, Lord, are the ones being saved few? And He said to them, (24) Strive to enter in at the narrow gate. For I say to you, many will seek to enter in and shall not be able.
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