44:2 shall not be opened. This “east gate” has, indeed, long been completely sealed. Whatever reason the Muslim rulers of Jerusalem may have had for this action at the time, the most remarkable testimony of this verse is that “the LORD, the God of Israel, once entered in by it.” That is, the Creator, Jehovah, the God of Israel, had become a man, that He might actually enter the temple through the east gate, the gate through which Ezekiel had just seen the shekinah glory come into the house (Ezekiel 43:4). In the new temple, the gate will be open again, and the God/man, the King of kings, Jesus Christ, will enter thereby.