Middos, Chapter 1, Mishnah 4. Until now the mishnah has been describing the walls that enclosed the azarah, the courtyard of the Beit Hamikdash, on all four of its sides. Now the mishnah turns to the openings in those walls: the gates through which one entered the courtyard. This mishnah and the one that follows it are devoted to those gates.
"Shiv'ah she'arim hayu ba'azarah": the courtyard was fitted with seven gates. "Shelosha batzafon, ushelosha badarom, ve'echad bamizrach": three of these openings were set into the northern wall, three into the southern wall, and a single gate stood on the eastern side.
The Three Southern Gates
"Shebadarom, Sha'ar HaDelek." Counting from the west, the first gate on the southern side was the Gate of the Kindling. The firewood used on the mizbeach was carried into the courtyard through this entrance, and that is what gave the gate its name.
"Sheni lo, Sha'ar HaBechorot." The next gate over was the Gate of the Firstborns. A male firstborn of a cow, a sheep or a goat must be brought to the Beit Hamikdash and given to a kohen, who offers it as a korban. The bechor has the status of kodashim kalim, offerings of a lighter degree of sanctity, as opposed to kodshei kodashim. Kodshei kodashim may be slaughtered only in the northern portion of the courtyard, while kodashim kalim may be slaughtered in the southern portion as well. Since the firstborn was brought to the south, it was natural that it be led in through a gate on the southern side, and this gate served that purpose.
"Shelishi lo, Sha'ar HaMayim." Moving further east along that same wall, one came to the Water Gate. Yechezkel prophesied that in the Beit Hamikdash of the future, water would flow out from precisely this place, and the gate was named after that prophecy.
Sha'ar Nikanor in the East
"Shebamizrach, Sha'ar Nikanor." The single eastern gate was named for a man called Nikanor, who donated its doors. He had them fashioned in Mitzrayim, by the master metalworkers of Alexandria, and then loaded them onto a ship to bring them to Yerushalayim.
A violent storm struck at sea. The sailors, fighting to keep the ship afloat, began casting the heaviest cargo overboard, and one of the two doors went into the water. When they reached for the second, Nikanor threw his arms around it and told them that if this door was going into the sea, they would have to throw him in along with it. With those words he showed how completely he was bound up with the Beit Hamikdash, and at that moment the storm subsided. The second door was saved.
Nor was the door that had gone overboard lost. As the ship pulled into harbor, it rose up from underneath the hull. In the end both doors were set into the courtyard's eastern entrance, and the gate carried the name of the man whose devotion had brought them.
The Two Chambers Beside the Gate
"Ushtei lishakot hayu lo, achat miyemino ve'achat mismolo": two chambers stood alongside Sha'ar Nikanor, one on its right and one on its left.
"Achat, lishkat Pinchas Hamalbish." One was the chamber of Pinchas, who was in charge of the priestly garments. He dressed the kohanim in the special clothing required for the avodah, removed the garments when their service was finished, and saw to it that everything was stored properly in its place.
"Ve'achat, lishkat Osei Chavitin." The chamber opposite housed those who prepared the chavitin. Every day the Kohen Gadol is obligated in a minchah offering, the Minchat Chavitin: twelve loaves, six brought in the morning and six later in the day. Their name comes from the machavat, the pan in which they were fried at the final stage of preparation. The kohanim assigned to this task carried it out in that chamber, on the left as one entered Sha'ar Nikanor.