Christiana and Mary entering the gate

So at last he came down to them again, and Mercy fell to the ground on her face before Him and worshipped, and said, "Let my Lord accept of the sacrifice of Praise which I now offer unto him with the calves of my lips".

So He said unto her, Peace be to thee, stand up. But she continued upon her face and said, Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with Thee, yet let me talk with thee of Thy Judgments. Wherefore dost thou keep so cruel a dog in Thy yard, at the sight of which such women and children as we are ready to fly from Thy Gate for fear?

He answered and said, "That dog has another owner; he also is kept close in another man's ground only My Pilgrims hear his barking; he belongs to the Castle which you see there at a distance, but can come up to the walls of this place. He has frighted many an honest Pilgrim from worse to better, by the great voice of his roaring. Indeed he that owneth him doth not keep him of any good will to Me or Mine, but with intent to keep the Pilgrims from coming to Me, and that they may be afraid to knock at this Gate for entrance. Sometimes also he has broken out, and has worried some that I love; but I take all at present patiently. I also give My Pilgrims timely help, so they are not delivered up to his power, to do to them what his doggish nature would prompt him to. But what! My purchased one, I tro, hadst thou known never so much beforehand, thou wouldest not have been afraid of a dog.

The beggars that go from door to door, will, rather than they will lose a supposed alms, run the hazard of the bawling barking and biting too of a dog; and shall a dog, a dog in another man's yard, a dog whose barking I turn to the profit of Pilgrims, keep any from coming to Me? I deliver them from the lions, their darling from the power of the dog.

Mercy: Then said Mercy, I confess my ignorance; I spake what I understood not; I acknowledge that Thou doest all things well.

Then Christiana began to talk of their journey, and to enquire after the way. So He fed them, and washed their feet, and set them in the way of his steps, according as he had dealt with her husband before. So I saw in my dream that they walked on their way, and had the weather very comfortable to them.

Then Christiana began to sing, saying,

Blessed be the Day that I begun

A Pilgrim for to be;

And blessed also be that man

That thereto moved me.

'Tis true, 'twas long ere I began

To seek to live for ever;

But now I run fast as I can;

'Tis better late than never.

Our tears to joy, our fears to faith,

Are turned, as we see,

Thus our beginning (as one saith,)

Shews what our end will be.

Interpretation:

The devil as a dog does bark at the women who are determined to enter the Wicket-gate. The devil tempts them by quoting the Scriptures that they need not go through this Gate. But the ministry of the Gate-keeper helps them in entering the House through the Gate. When the true gospel is preached to pilgrims, the Holy Spirit as the Gate-keeper opens their hearts.

John Bunyan takes Christiana towards the Celestial City not in the same manner as Christian but slightly in a different manner. Women have peculiar problems different from men. When Christian reached the Wicket-gate, Goodwill was there. However, when Christiana, Mercy and children reach this Gate, Goodwill is not here but a Gate Keeper (the Lord Himself) is here. The dog was not there when Christian reached the Gate. Normally, women are so timid that the devil may create fear in their hearts by barking at them.

In the above picture, the Gatekeeper took the distraught Mercy by the hand, and led her gently in. We need evangelists to lead the people to the Gate where the Gate-keeper awaits them.

Next.....Garden and Dog