What is the context?
Linen curtains enclose a courtyard one hundred cubits long, fifty wide and five high. Posts stand in bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands supporting the fabric. The eastern entrance has a twenty-cubit embroidered screen made with colored yarn and fine linen. Bronze pegs and utensils complete the instructions.
This enclosure marks out the area around the tent where the people approach for worship and sacrifice. It is distinct from the rooms inside the tabernacle. The later priestly regulations in Numbers 18:1–7 distinguish the work of Aaron’s priestly family from the assistance of the other Levites; belonging to Levi does not by itself authorize all priestly service.
Foreign residents are also addressed in the sacrificial laws. Leviticus 17:8–9 requires a foreigner living among Israel who offers a sacrifice to bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Numbers 15:14–16 gives the same offering rule for Israel and the foreign resident. Those instructions belong alongside the boundaries and responsibilities of sanctuary worship.
How is this passage commonly understood?
The courtyard is generally understood as setting apart the place of worship while allowing the people to bring their offerings before God. Wesley also sees it as a picture of God’s people set apart to Him. He carries that comparison forward to the wider gathering of people who call on Christ, rather than treating the courtyard’s physical size as a limit on the people God will bring near.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Ephesians 2:11–22 describes Gentiles who were once far away being brought near through Christ’s blood. Jesus reconciles Jews and Gentiles in one body, and both have access to the Father through one Spirit. They become members of God’s household and a dwelling for His Spirit.
That is a broader biblical connection with the question of belonging and approach to God, not Paul directly explaining this linen fence. The sanctuary’s ordered worship belongs within a story that leads to people from different backgrounds being reconciled to God and to one another through Christ.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.