In an age when borders are often treated as though they were inherently unkind, unnecessary, or even immoral, Scripture presents a rather different picture. The Bible repeatedly recognises nations, lands, jurisdictions, walls, gates, and boundaries. Nehemiah 2 provides a particularly striking example. Jerusalem was a city belonging to God’s covenant people, yet its walls had been broken down and its gates destroyed. Nehemiah did not regard this condition as desirable. He mourned over it and determined, under God, to rebuild.

When Nehemiah arrived at Jerusalem, he surveyed the destruction for himself. Nehemiah 2:13 says, “So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Well and on to the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire.” The ruined wall represented more than damaged architecture. Jerusalem had been left exposed, vulnerable, and disgraced. Nehemiah therefore called upon the people to restore it. In Nehemiah 2:17 the Bible says, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.”

Notice that Nehemiah did not say, “Walls divide people, therefore we should leave them down.” Neither did he suppose that having gates and boundaries was contrary to compassion. The wall had a legitimate purpose. It identified the city, protected its inhabitants, and allowed its gates to regulate entrance and departure. Restoring that boundary was regarded as good and necessary work.

Indeed, when Nehemiah told the people how the hand of God had been favourable toward him, they answered, “Let us arise and build” (Nehemiah 2:18). The rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls was undertaken with confidence in God’s providential favour. This principle extends beyond Nehemiah. Scripture recognises that God Himself established nations and their territorial bounds. Paul declared that God “made from one man every nation of mankind” and “determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation” (Acts 17:26). Borders, therefore, are not intrinsically evil. Distinctions between peoples, nations, jurisdictions, and territories form part of the ordinary government of human society.

This does not mean that every border policy pursued by every government is automatically righteous. Governments can administer borders unjustly, just as they can administer courts, taxation, or policing unjustly. Nor does a biblical defence of borders excuse cruelty toward strangers. Scripture repeatedly commands justice and proper treatment of the foreigner. Biblical compassion and national boundaries are not opposites.

A nation may welcome the stranger while still possessing a border. It may show mercy while maintaining law. It may receive immigrants while regulating immigration. The existence of a gate implies precisely this distinction: a gate is neither a permanently sealed wall nor an uncontrolled opening. It permits legitimate entrance while preserving an identifiable boundary.

Nehemiah understood something our generation would do well to remember: a community without meaningful boundaries is left exposed. Jerusalem needed its walls rebuilt, and Nehemiah believed God had prospered the work.

God is not against boundaries simply because boundaries separate one jurisdiction from another. Scripture presents God as the One who establishes order, distinguishes nations, and appoints boundaries. The political application requires wisdom and justice, but the underlying principle is difficult to deny: there is nothing inherently unbiblical about borders. On the contrary, properly ordered boundaries are entirely consistent with the biblical pattern of government, stewardship, protection, and national life.