If you walked into Home Depot today, you’d expect to see contractors, electricians, weekend DIYers. You wouldn’t expect to see a high priest in the tool aisle, picking out lumber, asking about the best fasteners, buying a tool belt.
But in the book of Nehemiah, that’s exactly what happens.
When the city was in ruins, when the walls were crumbled, when the people were vulnerable—the first person to step up and rebuild wasn’t a military leader, a politician, or a businessman.
It was Eliashib, the high priest.
Priests are builders.
Priests don’t just preach and pray—they build, restore, and rebuild.
They build altars. They build spaces for worship.
And in Nehemiah 3, they aren’t sitting in the temple. They’re out in the dust, rolling up their sleeves, rebuilding something deeply significant:
The Sheep Gate.
Not the main city gate.
Not the strongest part of the wall.
Not the marketplace or the palace.
The Sheep Gate.
Why does this matter?
Because before you build a wall, before you secure a city, before you protect anything that matters—you must restore the altar first.
The Sheep Gate was the entryway for the sacrificial lambs, the animals that would be brought into the temple for worship and atonement. This wasn’t just about fortifying Jerusalem. This was about making space for God again.
It was the only gate in the entire city that was consecrated—set apart for holiness. Because worship comes before strategy. The altar comes before the wall.
A Gate is About Access.
It’s not just a wall that keeps things out. It’s an entryway that allows something in.
So what do you think of when you hear the phrase sacrificial lamb?
You think of Jesus.
The One who gave everything. The One whose blood atones, whose sacrifice restores, whose presence transforms hearts.
And so, before you focus on building your career, before you strengthen your finances, before you restore your marriage or your ministry—ask yourself:
Is my heart open to the sacrificial lamb?
Building an altar doesn’t mean building a ministry. It doesn’t mean running out to serve, to fix, to make things happen. It means building a place of intimacy with God.
Before you work for Him, be with Him. Before you fix the wall, restore your worship.
Make sure your heart is in alignment with God. That your worship life is right. Because if the altar isn’t in place, anything you build will crumble.
If you try to build without this, your city might look strong, but it will be empty. The foundation will be off. The purpose will be lost.
But if the first gate you restore is the one that welcomes Jesus in—everything else will take shape the way it was meant to.
Start at the Sheep Gate.
Rebuild the altar before the walls.
Let the sacrificial lamb in.
Everything else follows.