Steps led up to each gate. These steps made the gates feel less accessible. A person had to go up in order to enter the sacred area.
The inner parts of the temple were higher than the outer parts. The more sacred the space, the higher it stood. This difference in height created another level of separation between common space and holy space.
In this way, the design of the temple showed that not every place was the same. Some areas were set apart as more sacred than others.