This first part is in response to Patti C. and later I would like to address Matt. 25:12 "Verily I say unto you, I know you not."

So Patti.  I have found out from experience, that my ideas about scripture will eventually be challenged by God and I will have to differentiate between my ideas, and His intent.  It will happen many times to someone who is searching and God rewards that with His knowledge...

2 Peter 1:2,3   Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus, our Lord,   According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue;......

So that means I never discredit someone who is diligently seeking to see if there is something I haven't considered.  BUT, there are also guidelines that I have learned to follow.  The major one is that scripture is going to back itself up, it will be elsewhere in scripture whether literally or in a "type".  Now there is also a principle I follow when looking at the types in scripture, and it tries to keep me from going off on my own rabbit trail.  (Yes, I have been on a few)  That principle states that every facet of a type must fall into the interpretation.  There is not one single word that is to be discarded, so all must be understood within the light of understanding or the understanding is either not complete or faulty.  Here are some things to tackle in your understanding of the 10 virgins in Matt. 25

vs 1   Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened-

                  is this being addressed to those who want to be in the kingdom, or is it literally to those who are the kingdom?

                  

vs 1    10 virgins

                   the use of the word virgin.  What does it mean?  Someone set apart/ someone undefiled / someone committed to purity / someone not yet mature. . .?

                    why the use of the number 10    10 refers to ordinal completion, or completion to that which is in view.  Therefore all of the virgins must have something in common for it to be a completion of something.

vs 1   who took their lamps

                      what does the lamp represent?  The word?.... since Christ is the "Word", then saying that they took the word with them should be the same as taking Christ with them.

vs 1   and went forth to meet the bridegroom.  

                    when do virgins go forward to meet a bridegroom? ...... Isnt it implied that they are all going in the same direction?- what is the implication of that idea in regards to the identity of the virgins.

                    where in scripture are "unsaved" referred to as virgins?  Heathen yes, but as virgins?

So you can see all the thoughts that need to be answered in just one verse for a type to be deciphered.  Big task

And now Donna and David as well.

I have struggled with Matt. 25:11,12 as well.  "Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.  But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not."

I have wrestled with the idea of how could these possibly be christians.   I was basing that on the word's, I know you not. BUT, if God knows the number of hairs on your head, and knows when a bird falls from the sky... would it not also be true that all the unsaved are known as well.  So I realized that that logic wasn't going to work.  Of course Christ knows everyone.  So it must be unique to the idea of virgins meeting a bridegroom with lamps filled with oil.  Sooo....

Often times God uses event from my past to help explain something about Himself to me.  I see a kind deed and realize that He had it all set up for me- His faithfulness. A flat tire, kept me from being in a potential accident- his protection.   And unfortunately I have a divorce in my background.  And it is from the working through of the emotions and the laying down of a new path, that God just recently showed me something.  I have been out of my x-husbands life now for 4 years.  At one time we were on the same page, had the same path marked out for our life, shared fears, insights, joys, occasions...emotional as well as physical intimacy.  But now..... we are so far out of the loop of each others lives and he has so gone off the "deep end" spiritually, that I have found myself thinking.... I don't know that man.  He has changed so much in his attitudes and actions that I really feel I could tell him...and mean it...I don't know you.   Then it dawned on me and I felt a confirmation in my spirit: this is what Christ is relating to when he said that he doesn't know them.   They had at one time made the commitment to go on the path with Christ and started sharing with Him....only to turn away from their commitment and started filling themselves with things other than Him.  In the end, they think they should have a very intimate relationship with him, but haven't been respectful of the commitment or faithful to it, either out of ignorance or willful choice.

I see this choice being warned against repeatedly in scripture and now feel that this scripture is showing a fuller light to the importance of making the commitment and then being faithful to it.

Thanks for letting me share