The request that the woman open her door to let the man in suggests the desire for physical intimacy.1 But it is a request, not a demand. He speaks to her with great tenderness as my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one
.2 What is at one level a dream about the opening (or not) of a door is in fact at another level a dream about sexual intimacy (or not) between the two lovers.3
2 I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.”