It is as yet unpublished but can be accessed here . Jesus met the paralytic, whom he cured on the sabbath, at the pool near the Sheep Gate, which is the gate in the wall of Jerusalem through which the sheep were led and then held in a holding area on their way to the altar of sacrifice. It was the entry point for the victims of the sacrificial regime. Often, it is as a reference to some form of bleating conformity. The most important reference to sheep in the New Testament is sacrificial.
Sheep are the sacrificial animals par excellence.
Animals were originally kept for sacrifice. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. The shepherd enters into the gate in the same way that the sheep do.