They were abandoning the Rock of David to its fate.

Among them went the last remnants of that sect of Christians who had tarried long after their brethren had been warned away, hoping against hope.
They were not missed among the numbers in Jerusalem, for the Passover hosts still poured through the gates to the south and took their places in the unhappy city.

And with these that same afternoon Laodice and her old servant came into Jerusalem.
It was the eighth day after they had applied to the priest at Emmaus whither they had fled in their search for the frosts, a good three leagues north of the direct road to Jerusalem.

They had stopped at the Lavatory outside the walls, washed themselves and had purchased the white garments of the purified.

Old Momus carried with him the price of the lambs, of the fine flour and the oil for their cleansing and the two were ready to present themselves for their purification at the Temple.