6b. ..I will dwell in the house/ of the Lord forever The shepherd stands at the gate of the sheepfold, like Jesus' self-description as the "door to the sheepfold", holding the protective rod. A last sheep enters as the others sleep peacefully within. The heart-shaped fence of the sheepfold is symbolic of God's compassion. The day is over and the sheep rest in the sheepfold, healed, refreshed and contented, like a child in its mother's arms. The sheep are safe, guarded, forever by the Good Shepherd. God's people have reached the promised land, and the psalmist expresses his wish to live there forever with God, in the Temple, as it were, in God's house. The Temple reference suggests that the psalm dates from post-Davidic times. True security is achieved at last in God's care, in the shepherd's fold. The window arch precludes border shepherds.