In former days, cities relied on strong exterior walls to safeguard their people and wealth, incorporating extensive defense mechanisms like glacis, moats, drawbridges, arrow slits, towers, gates, and portcullises. These walls kept danger and enemies at bay, while gates and doors allowed guards to monitor and control entry and exit. A breached wall spelled disaster for the populace, and if impregnable, enemies often lured defenders out to trap them and seize the city. The book of Nehemiah recounts a time when Jerusalem's walls were virtually nonexistent, leaving the returned Jewish remnant vulnerable to the pagan world's influence. Nehemiah, upon learning of this dire state, sought and received permission to rebuild the walls, despite resistance from those who saw no danger in living unprotected. He surveyed the wall's condition secretly by night to prepare his plans. The rebuilding process was difficult, costly, and repetitive, leading to discouragement with the wall only half-completed amidst threats of attack. Nehemiah reignited fervor by assigning each family a section of the wall near their home, ensuring personal investment in its strength. Beyond physical walls, there is a call to build a spiritual wall around the community and personal homes. This involves maintaining high standards, encouraging one another, and protecting against harmful influences through prayer and vigilance. Homes should be sanctuaries dedicated to holiness, actively guarded against the world's corrupting elements like inappropriate entertainment, music, and internet content. The goal is to create a safe haven where families feel secure, knowing their environment honors higher values and standards. Like Nehemiah, there is a need to survey the destruction of protective barriers in personal lives, homes, and communities. Rebuilding these walls is a vital task, starting with restoring a strong connection to guiding principles.

Walls in the Bible are significant as they symbolize both physical and spiritual elements. They were a prominent feature of cities, often built on hills, and were essential for a city's identity and protection. Walls were costly to build and maintain, requiring significant resources and labor from the city's inhabitants. They were a source of pride and a symbol of beauty, indicating civilization and settlement. Spiritually, walls serve two primary functions: defense and separation. They protect from external threats and separate the inhabitants from those outside. This is illustrated by the pillar of fire that acted as a wall between the Israelites and the Egyptians, defending and separating them. In the context of Nehemiah, the wall around Jerusalem and the Temple symbolizes the church's protection and separation from the world. It protects the Temple, representing the church, and the city of Jerusalem, also symbolizing the church, along with its inhabitants, who are members of the body of Christ. God and His angels are described as a wall, offering protection from spiritual marauders like demons. However, God may also break down walls for His purposes, as seen with Job, Israel, and Judah, exposing them to external forces and revealing their weaknesses. Building a spiritual wall involves yielding in obedience, as the Jews did under Nehemiah's leadership. This wall is not physical but spiritual, consisting of the character needed to resist the surrounding world. Holiness is identified as this spiritual wall, essential for protection against spiritual invaders. In Ezekiel, God seeks a man to build a wall or stand in the gap, indicating that individuals can be walls, protecting and separating truth from destruction. This role involves personal effort, as seen with Jeremiah, who was a wall against the people's stubbornness.

Walls have served as barriers between nations, often requiring a massive amount of labor to erect. The Great Wall of China, stretching nearly 1,000 miles, was built to fend off invasions from the north and served as a primary means of defense. In modern times, the Jews constructed a wall in Jerusalem to avoid war, demonstrating that walls deter to some degree, though they do not provide perfect protection. Anciently, walls were a common and dominating feature of cities, built for protection on hilltops with walls added as an additional barrier against invaders. These walls were costly and labor-intensive but considered essential. Israelitish city walls were typically 20 to 25 feet thick and at least as tall, playing a significant role in community life beyond defense. City gates, integral parts of these walls, were central to community gatherings. The construction of the wall in Jerusalem after the Jews' release from captivity, as detailed in the book of Nehemiah, was crucial for the citizens' well-being and celebrated with great relief and ceremony. The walls of Babylon and Nineveh were renowned for their size and architecture, nearly considered Wonders of the Ancient World. Walls also served symbolic purposes, such as the transportable wall around the Tabernacle in the wilderness, separating it from ordinary citizens. Symbolically, walls represent both salvation, due to their protective nature, and misplaced trust, as they could be breached, as seen with the walls of Jericho. God is said to place an invisible wall of protection around the faithful.