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5. Barricading ones door using a bolt or rod:

A. Barricading one’s door with a wooden rod:[1]

No need to tie the rod to the door before Shabbos: A rod which one has made to be used as a lock, [through] inserting it by the wall near the door[2], does not need to be tied to the door before Shabbos. As even if it were not to be tied and hung there from before Shabbos, and one inserts it there on Shabbos, [nevertheless] this is not considered building on Shabbos since he is not nullifying it there, as it is meant to be removed and inserted constantly.[3]

Must modify the rod in a way that it is evident that it is meant for locking with: Nevertheless [locking with a rod] is a bit more similar to [the prohibition of] building then is the sealing of a window and skylight [through an insert], therefore even if one thought before Shabbos to use it to lock with on Shabbos, and even if one designated it for this purpose forever, and even if one had used to lock with many times during the week and it was designated for this use, nevertheless it is forbidden to use it to lock with on Shabbos unless one modified it and did an action to it and prepared it [to be used for] this, in a way that the modification shows on it that it is designated for this [use]. (As in such a case it is readily evident that the rod has not been nullified [to permanently] stay there, but rather is meant to remove and reinsert regularly, as his action of modification proves this, as through this action of modification it gives it the status of a vessel, and it is not usual to insert a vessel into a building and annul it there forever.)

The status of the rod once a modification has been done: [If one does this modification] it is allowed to lock with it even if one had never locked with it before hand, before [this] Shabbos.

As well it is permitted to move it even not for the sake of using it and [using] its space, as is the law by all other vessel which are designated for a permitted use.

However, if [the lock] is made in a way that it is forbidden to lock with it on Shabbos, then even though it is designated to lock with during the week, [nevertheless] it is forbidden to move it unless [doing so in order] to use it [for a permitted purpose] or [to use] its space, as is the law of a vessel which is designated for forbidden usage.

B. Barricading ones door using a bolt which has a handle:[4]

The same applies by a bolt[5] that is inserted one end into the hole in the wall of one side of the door and the other end into the hole [in the wall] of the other side of the door, [then] if it has a ring in its middle with which one holds onto when removing and inserting [the bolt] and uses it to pull the bolt [into or out of its hole], then [the ring] is [considered] a handle to the bolt and it is permitted to use to lock with even if it is not tied.

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[1] Admur 313:2

^[2] Such as a wooden barricade placed behind a door, which is hung on hooks that protrude from the walls that are horizontal to the door.

^[3] However, if it is inserted into holes made in the walls which are vertical to the door, and thus prevents the door from being pushed open, then it has different laws, as will be explained.

[4] Admur 313:7

^[5] Vetzaruch Iyun how this case [of a bolt] is any different than the case of a rod, explained above [in Halacha 2]. [Alter Rebbe]

^[6] Halacha 2

^[7] Halacha 2

^[8] Halacha 7