Today we move deeper into The Pastor of Hermas, where the tower, the rock, and the gate are finally explained—and the symbolism becomes unmistakably Christ-centered. The rock is old because the Son of God is older than all creation, a fellow-counselor with the Father in the work of making the world; the gate is new because He was manifested in the last days so that those who receive His holy name might enter the kingdom. No one enters except through Him. The tower is the Church, built of stones that have passed through the gate and been clothed with the strength of the virgins—Faith, Continence, Power, Patience, Simplicity, Innocence, Purity, Cheerfulness, Truth, Understanding, Harmony, and Love. To bear the name of the Son without bearing His power is to stand rejected. Yet there is mercy: those who were seduced by the women in black—Un ...