בראשית, פרק י״ט, פסוק י׳

At the peak of tension against an angry mob, a sudden supernatural intervention shifts the balance. The angels, who until now appeared as ordinary men, use their superhuman strength to pull Lot inside the house, overcoming the massive crowd pressing against the entrance [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. They take this action because they recognize that Lot has placed his own life in imminent danger to protect them, proving that he is truly worthy of being saved [ביאור יש״ר]. Since the angels are about to strike the crowd with blindness, Lot seemingly could have been saved while remaining outside. However, once a destructive force is unleashed, it does not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, making it necessary to physically shield him within the walls of the house [פרדס יוסף].

The subsequent act of closing the door serves a purpose beyond mere physical protection. The angels shut the door specifically so that the mob will exhaust themselves in a desperate, futile attempt to find the entrance, thereby exposing and proving the sheer magnitude of their wickedness [ספורנו]. Once the door is secured from the inside, the men of Sodom are struck with a sudden blindness. This affliction is not a complete absence of light, but rather a severe sickness of visual confusion and disorientation. It causes them to entirely lose their sense of direction, making them see their surroundings backward and distorted [מלבי״ם].

This visual confusion is so profound that even if the door had been left wide open, the attackers would not have been able to find their way inside. It is also possible that once struck with this blinding disorientation, the mob no longer attempts to break into the house at all. Instead, seized by panic, they try to flee for their lives through the large courtyard gate, wearing themselves out as they blindly search for an escape route [אלשיך]. The way this event unfolds vividly illustrates the absolute, systemic corruption of the city. The blindness strikes the crowd sequentially, beginning with the youth who stand at the front and moving to the elders who approach from behind. This progression demonstrates that the entire population, from the youngest to the oldest, is actively participating in the wicked act [מלבי״ם]. At that exact moment, the fate of the city is sealed. Their measure of sin is completely full, and the decree for their destruction is finalized, as it is definitively proven that every single citizen has corrupted their ways and not a single one does good [ביאור יש״ר].