Gregory the Great
Patristic
c. A.D. 540–604
“"And its windows, and its vestibules round about, fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in width." But if the Gentile world is designated by the name of the North, it is clear to all who read carefully that the Gentile world existed before the Synagogue. For Heber himself, from whom the Hebrews are named, was chosen from among the Gentiles. Let the Eastern gate therefore be mentioned before the gate of the North and of the South, because in His divinity the Lord was born before the Gentile world and Judea, He who also exists before all ages. But in the subsequent narration let the gate of the South, of the East and of the North be mentioned, because our Redeemer deigned to be born in human nature between Judea and the Gentile world, because He came both at the end of the Synagogue and before the beginning of the Church, which He gathered from the Gentiles.”