Another image often used for the Virgin Mary was the East Gate of the temple. Like the other Old Testament types, this image highlights the way in which Mary's role in salvation history is intrinsically linked to Christ. Mary is the portal through which the Lord entered his creation. Because of this, exploring the Old Testament typology becomes a means of contemplating the Incarnation.

According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah would enter through the East Gate (see, for example, Ezekiel 43:1–5). Christians also celebrate Jesus' entry through the East Gate into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Luke 19:35–38).

The Golden Gate

In the Book of Acts, the East Gate is called the Beautiful Gate (Acts 3:2–10). Because of the way Jerome translated the book into Latin, it is also known as the Golden Gate. This is appropriate, not only because of the way this gate was once decorated, but also because, according to the Bible, it was the place where the glory of God (the Shekinah) entered the temple.

This gate is also said to be the place where the Last Judgment will take place. This is based on passages from both the Old and New Testaments, as well as other traditions. Jews, Christians, and Muslims have traditionally buried their dead outside of this gate so that they could be close to the Lord when he returns to judge the living and the dead (see Zechariah 14:4–5 and Matthew 24:27). This is why there are many cemeteries to this day on the Mount of Olives, just east of the Temple Mount. The Mount of Olives is located on the east side of Jerusalem and is a popular holy site for Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Among Jews, the Mount of Olives has been a popular burial site since the time of the first Temple. According to Jewish tradition the Messiah is to enter Jerusalem through the nearby Golden Gate and those who are buried on the Mount of Olives will be the first to be resurrected. Today many important churches are located on this mountain, and according to Christian tradition, this was the last place where Jesus prayed before he was taken captive by the Romans.

The imagery of the East Gate was also connected to the teaching of Mary's ever-virginity. Ezekiel writes, “And the Lord said to me, ‘This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened; and no man shall enter by it because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore, it shall be shut'” (Ezekiel 44:2).

There is a further significance connected to this temple door facing east. Christians have traditionally prayed facing east, and it is from the east that the sun rises — an image that the Church has often connected to rising of the “son.”

A Garden Enclosed

The image of a gate that remains closed is closely connected to the images of Mary as a “garden enclosed” (Song of Solomon 4:12). This image would also have been connected to her ever-virginity. She became, in the minds of Christians, a sealed-in garden that no man could enter after God did. This image was also featured in medieval tapestries and paintings, in which Mary is shown surrounded by animals and flowers that had a particular connection to her (such as roses and lilies) and surrounded by a walled-in gate. She would be shown near her infant child Christ, if not holding him.

The image connecting Mary to the East Gate of the temple is similar to the image of the door, which is featured in the writings of Saint Romanos. In his hymn for the Nativity of Christ, he writes that Mary “opens the door and receives the company of the magi. She opens the door — she the unopened and yet in no way robbed of the treasure of her purity. She opened the door, she from whom was born the door.” This passage symbolically connects Mary, who was herself a door, since it was through her that God came into the world, with Christ, who is himself “the way,” or the door, to eternal life (John 14:6).