How did Nehemiah stop goods from being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath?

Answer: He had the city gates shut

Nehemiah ordered the gates shut as evening fell before the Sabbath and posted servants so no load could enter.

“Did not your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling His wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!””— Nehemiah 13:18 (BSB)