從像征性的角度來看，聖門具有特殊的意義，它是最具特色的標志，因為目標是能夠通過它。教宗的開門儀式標志著聖年的正式開始。最初只有一扇聖門，而第一扇可能是在聖若望拉特朗大殿，羅馬的主教座堂。為了讓眾多朝聖者有機會做出通過聖門的記號，其他羅馬大殿也開始設有一個聖門。
In crossing the threshold of the Holy Door, the pilgrim is reminded of the passage from chapter 10 of St John’s gospel: “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” Passing through the Holy Door expresses the decision to follow and be guided by Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd. The door is a passageway that ushers the pilgrim into the interior of a church. For the Christian community, a church is not only a sacred space, to be approached with respect, with appropriate behavior and dress code, but it is a symbol of the communion that binds every believer to Christ: it is a place of encounter and dialogue, of reconciliation and peace which awaits every pilgrim, the Church is essentially the place of the community of the faithful.
In Rome, this experience takes on a special significance because of the special links between the Eternal City and Saints Peter and Paul, the apostles who founded the Christian community in Rome and whose teachings and example are models for the universal Church. The tombs of Saints Peter and Paul are located in Rome, they were martyred here; and together with the catacombs, these sacred sites are places of continuous spiritual inspiration.
