What is “the shut door” and what did Ellen White believe about it?
William Miller likened his message of the soon return of Jesus to the “midnight cry” of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matt. 25:1-13). He interpreted the ten “virgins” as those summoned to meet the returning Lord, the “wedding” as the eternal kingdom, and the shutting of the “door” (verse 10) as “the closing up of the mediatorial kingdom, and finishing the gospel period”–in other words, the closing of the “door of salvation” or the close of human probation. According to Matthew 25:10, “The bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut” (Matt. 25:10). Because they expected Christ to return at the close of the 2300 prophetic days of Daniel 8:14, Millerite adventists had emphasized that probation would close at the end of that period. Therefore, for a short period after the disappointment of October 1844, Miller and many of his followers, including young Ellen Harmon (later Ellen White), felt that their work of warning sin
