How do Protestants interpret this Scripture and who is it speaking of?

Without the Church Fathers to rely on who knows what interpretations they will come up with:

"Who is this gate (Ezekiel 44:1-4), if not Mary? Is it not closed because she is a virgin? Mary is the gate through which Christ entered this world, when He was brought forth in the virginal birth and the manner of His birth did not break the seals of virginity." - Saint Ambrose of Milan (ca AD 390)

"It is written (Ezekiel 44, 2): ‘This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it. Because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it...’ What means this closed gate in the house of the Lord, except that Mary is to be ever inviolate? What does it mean that ‘no man shall pass through it,’ save that Joseph shall not know her? And what is this - ‘The Lord alone enters in and goeth out by it,’ except that the Holy Ghost shall impregnate her, and that the Lord of Angels shall be born of her? And what means this - ‘It shall be shut for evermore,’ but that Mary is a Virgin before His birth, a Virgin in His birth, and a Virgin after His birth." - Saint Augustine (ca AD 430)

@lix

If you read all the Gospels you would know that they aren't Mary's children. They are Jesus' cousins, the children of Mary of Clopas. There was no Greek word for cousins. They were called 'brothers and sisters' (not to mention you ruled out Joseph's children from prior marriage).

The fact is that Jesus would not have given Mary to John if she still had children (James) to take care of her.

good question! Rose............ you should no longer locate 2 Peter a million:20-21 ? in the beginning you would possibly want to understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is an argument of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever got here by technique of the impulse of guy, yet adult men moved by technique of the Holy Spirit spoke from God. it truly is the odd glory of the prophets that, preferrred between people, they did not understand what they were speaking about. We’ve all had reviews of putting forward more desirable than we realized. yet no human being did this more desirable than the prophets. The Spirit replaced into speaking through them, readying both them and the international for a revelation which neither they, nor the international, would have envisioned. even as it did come, even those who ate and drank with the Revelation and met Him on the Emmaus highway after His lack of existence and Resurrection nonetheless did not understand, any more desirable than the prophets, what the words of the prophets had finally meant. The Revelation Himself, Crucified and Risen, had to open their eyes, contained in the breaking of the bread in order that as that they could finally drink of the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).

May I answer, although I am not a protestant?

In prophetic language, the reference to the Prince is almost always a messianic prophecy. We are told in the New Testament that the temple prophecies pertained to the church.

2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people."

The Prince that sits in the gate must either be the real Messiah or Daniel's 'prince who is to come", the false messiah of the tribulation period. Because God had been the last One through the gate prior to its being sealed shut it seems likely that the next One through will be David [Ezek. 34.24,25], or the Son of David, Jesus the Messiah.

This prophecy is talking about Israels eastern gate. The gate which Jesus rode through the first time on a donkey on palm Sunday when he entered Jerusalem. When Christ returns this gate will be open and he will once again enter this gate.

Here is a picture of it. It remains sealed til this day just like the bible said it would

http://zion.is/english/images/Jerusalem%20Golden%2...

Here is a very good video explaining the prophecy more in detail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beNN7EisSW0

I'd like to answer but I'm definitely NOT protestant, and I did look the verses up and read the initial notes and footnotes for that chapter and those verses("The Douay-Rheims Old Testament of The Holy Catholic Bible With A Comprehensive Catholic Commentary Compiled By Rev. Fr. Geo. Leo Haydock"), so, I guess I'm disqualified from answering. I just like to reference what the Church says about stuff before I offer an answer, but then again, I'm NOT protestant as you required in your question. Thanks for adding to my studies, however. God Bless you.

Ultimately it is a Messianic prophecy of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Prince mentioned here. The East is symbolic of the Christian church which began in the East and then spread to the West.

Way back in Genesis, the importance of the East was established:

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Gen 2:8 ¶ And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Ezekiel 44:1

Outward sanctuary - The court of the priests, as distinguished from the temple itself. This gate was reserved for the prince, to whom it was opened on certain days. Only a prince of the house of David might sit down in the priests’ court (compare Eze_46:1-2).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Barnes_(theolo...

- A Protestant

The passage speaks of Jesus Christ, entering into Jerusalem.

Commonly referred to as the triumphal entry.

Google images shows us that the Eastern Gate is shut and sealed.

http://www.google.com/search?q=eastern+gate+Jerusa...

Mary had become the dwelling place of the Almighty