And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of your mercy.
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Bede
AD 735
We are commanded by the Law to do for six days the things that are necessary and to rest on the seventh. The general mystery of this command is clear: namely, that in this world, which lasts for six ages, all the elect should labor for eternal rest, but on a day that is to come, as it were on the seventh, should hope for that rest itself from the Lord. But according to tropology (i.e., the moral sense), the elect even in this life keep the sabbath holy for the Lord when, having separated themselves at the appropriate time from worldly concerns, they make time for prayer and raise their minds, which have been purified, to the contemplation of heavenly things. For when we lawfully carry out those things that care for the body’s demands with a sincere heart and not with desires contrary to the precept of the apostle, we are, so to speak, performing our necessary work in the six days, since we are occupied with those things that we have need of in this world.
Gates. The Levites would more conscientiously discharge their duty, (Menochius) and restrain the people, so that they might keep the day holy. (Haydock)
