Tamid 3:6-7

Tamid 3:6

The kohanim who had won the lotteries to remove the ashes from the inside altar and the Menorah went in early, carrying four vessels: a basket, a jug and two keys. The basket was like a gold tarkav (a measure holding three kav – about two gallons) except it only held two and half kav. The jug was like a large gold pitcher; one of the two keys went down an arm’s length to his armpit and the other opened directly in front of him.

Tamid 3:7

The one sent to open the doors came to the small door on the north. There were two small doors in the Great Gate – one to the north and one to the south. No one ever entered through the door to the south as per the prophet Yechezkel: “Hashem said to me, ‘This gate must be shut. It may not be opened and no one may enter through it because Hashem, the God of Israel, enters through it and it must be shut” (Ezekiel 44:2). He took the key and opened the small door. He then went into the room and from that room to the Sanctuary until he reached the Great Gate. When he reached the Great Gate, he removed the bolt and the locks and he opened it. The one who was to slaughter the tamid would not do so until he heard the sound of the Great Gate being opened.