Chapter xli.

The man with the measuring reed had gradually introduced in the vision Ezekiel to the outer wall and outer and inner court of this great future temple. The chambers, posts, gateways, sacrificial tables, etc., were all described in detail and so the prophet was brought into the temple vestibule (xl:48-49) to be led on into the temple itself. He beholds now the Holy place, the Most Holy, the side buildings, the hinder buildings and the interior of the temple.

I. The Holy Place and the Most Holy.

Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle. And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits. Then went he inward, and measured each post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits. So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place (verses 1-4.)

III. The Outer Court.

Then brought he me into the outward court and, lo, there were chambers, and a pavement made for the court round about: thirty chambers were upon the pavement. And the pavement by the side of the gates over against the length of the gates was the lower pavement. Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the forefront of the inner court without, an hundred cubits eastward and northward. And the gate of the outward court that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof. And the little chambers thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the measure of the first gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them. And the gate of the inner court was over against the gate toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate an hundred cubits. After that he brought me toward the south: and behold a gate toward the south: and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures. And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them: and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof. And there was a gate in the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south an hundred cubits (verses 17-27.)

The man with the measuring line now leads the prophet into the outer court itself. He had passed through the East gate and has now the vision of the outer court. Here again he beholds chambers. The word used for chamber is a different word from the one used in verses 7, 10, 12, 13, 16, 21, 29, 33 and 36. The chambers of the outer court are no longer guard-rooms. The word used here is found in 1 Sam. ix:22, which was not a small chamber by any means, inasmuch as thirty persons could be accommodated. The word is used later for the chambers in which the priests kept the tithes and offerings. Such chambers were in the temple of Solomon. In the millennial temple they probably will serve the same purpose. Then we read of a pavement made for the court round about. It is a pavement of stones (see 2 Kings xvi:17; 2 Chron. vii:3; Esther i:6--the same Hebrew word is used in these passages). This pavement, probably in the form of a mosaic arrangement, covers the entire outer court and of the chambers were thirty upon the pavement. Where are these chambers located? Are they together or scattered over the entire outer court? We believe they will be located alongside of each gateway, two on the side of the East gate, two at the North gate and two at the South gate. This seems to be the correct location, for the prophet in having stepped through the gateway into the outer court sees these chambers first, so that they must have been at the entrance gate. The measurement follows and the North gate and South gate are described. They compare in every way to the East gate, each having its seven steps, its little chambers (guard-chambers) its posts and palm trees.

IV. The Inner Court, the Sacrificial Tables and the Chambers.

And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures; And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. And the arches round about were five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad. And the arches thereof were toward the outer court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps. And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures. And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, were according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. And the arches thereof were toward the outward court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps. And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it according to these measures; The little chambers thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, and the windows to it round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. And the posts thereof were toward the outer court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps. And the chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the gates, where they washed the burnt offering. And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering. And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of the gate, were two tables. Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they slew their sacrifices. And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and an half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high: whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt offering and the sacrifice. And within were hooks, an hand broad, fastened round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering. And without the inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south: one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north. And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house. And the chamber, whose prospect is toward the north, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the Lord to minister unto him. So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar that was before the house (verses 28-47).

The first two verses give the measurement of the Holy part. Of the contents of this part, how it was furnished, nothing is said; only the measurement is mentioned. The place is forty cubits long and twenty cubits broad. In this respect it corresponds to the temple of Solomon in which the Holy place had the same dimensions, while the same part in the wilderness tabernacle was only twenty cubits by ten cubits. We find therefore that the Holy part in the temple of Solomon and Ezekiel's temple is double the size of the Holy part of the tabernacle. There is a door which leads from the vestibule into this Holy place and at both sides are door posts, six cubits broad on the one side and six on the other; between these two posts is the door, the breadth of which is ten cubits.[40] The number twelve is again in evidence in these two posts, twice six. Inasmuch as the wall (verse 5) is six cubits thick these two posts are probably a part of the wall surrounding the temple. Later we receive the additional information that the waters issued from under the threshold of the house eastward, the seer being at this door (xlvii:1).

[40] The words "which was the breadth of the tabernacle" are by some declared doubtful. The Septuagint has omitted them.

Then the man went inward, into the Most Holy. This was a perfect square twenty cubits long and twenty broad. Let us notice that the prophet here does not enter the place, for it is the Most Holy, the dwelling place of Jehovah.

The man entered in alone, while the prophet remained outside. There was a door six cubits high and seven cubits broad. The breadth of the door leading into the Holy part was ten cubits, but the door leading into the Most Holy was seven cubits broad, the number which denotes divine perfection. The description of the interior of the temple is given in verses 15-26.

II. The Side Buildings.

After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side. And the side chambers were three, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which was of the house for the side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house. And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst. I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits. The thickness of the wall, which was for the side chamber without, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side chambers that were within. And between the chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side. And the doors of the side chambers were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about (verses 5-11).

He measured first the wall which surrounded the Holy and the Most Holy part. This wall was six cubits. Then there are side chambers. Such side chambers were also in the temple of Solomon (1 Kings vi:5). There are three stories and each contains thirty chambers, so there are ninety chambers in all. These three stories with the ninety chambers surrounded the temple on its three sides, the North, West and South sides, the East side being the vestibule and entrance into the temple; no side chambers are found above this entrance. These side chambers enter into the wall, that they might have hold and still they have not hold of the wall itself. In this also the temple corresponds to the arrangement of Solomon's temple. 1 Kings vi:6 explains the construction of these chambers: "On the outside he made rebatements in the wall of the house round about, that the beams should not have hold in the wall of the house." The side chambers in the Solomonic temple were fastened on the house with timber of cedar (1 Kings vi:10). This probably explains the meaning of the attachment of these three stories of chambers in Ezekiel's temple. The side chambers must therefore be considered as an addition to the wall itself which surrounds the Holy and Most Holy. We do not know what will be the use of these ninety chambers in the millennial temple. The seventh verse shows that the stories of this addition to the wall, containing the chambers, have galleries round about. And the gallery of the second story is broader than the gallery of the first, and the gallery of the third is broader than the second story, so that this annex broadens upward. The expression "winding about" has led some of the few expositors of these chapters to identify with the winding stairs of the Solomonic temple (1 Kings vi:8); but this is incorrect. The text does not mention a staircase at all. A better rendering of verse 8 is: "And I saw that the house had an elevation round about, the foundations of the side chambers, a full reed, six cubits to the joint."[41] There was then a raised basement on the three sides of the temple and the six cubits correspond to the ten steps (xl:49) marking the height of the elevation. Verse 9 shows that the thickness of the wall, which was for the side chambers without was five cubits, besides this there was a free place along the building. "And between the chambers (and the house) was a width of twenty cubits round about the house on every side." This afforded the proper light for these chambers. "And the entry of the side chambers was toward what was left free, one entry toward the North, and one entry toward the South; and the width of the space left free was five cubits round about." The side chambers were therefore entered from the outside.

[41] i. e., To the level place where the side chambers begin.

III. The Hinder Building--The Total Measurement.

Now the building that was before the separate place at the end toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits. So he measured the house, an hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long; also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, an hundred cubits. And he measured the length of the building over against the separate place which was behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, an hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the porches of the court (verses 12-15).

Here a new building comes into view which is behind the temple building toward the West. Its dimensions are seventy cubits broad, ninety cubits long and the wall is five cubits in thickness round about. The use of this building is not stated. Its use is probably for the disposal of the refuse from the sacrifices and other unclean things. No other description is given of this hinder building, this separate place. Verses 12 and 14 give the total measurement of the house, a hundred cubits, which is the total of the previously given measures.

IV. The Interior of the Temple Described.

The thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, ceiled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered; to that above the entry, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, all was by measure. And it was made with cherubim and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces; so that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about. From the ground unto above the door were cherubim and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple. The posts of the temple were squared, and the front of the sanctuary had the same appearance. The altar was of wood three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the Lord. And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors. And the doors had two leaves, two turning leaves; two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door. And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there was a wooden portal in front of the porch without. And closed windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and the portals[42] (verses 16-26).

[42] Corrected text.

From verse 16 we learn that all was wainscoted with wood. The altar was also of wood. It is significant that silver and gold, so prominent in the tabernacle in the wilderness and in Solomon's temple, are entirely absent in the millennial temple. The words "silver and gold" are not mentioned once in Ezekiel xl-xlviii. Silver typifies grace in redemption, being the ransom money. Gold typifies divine righteousness. Both are absent in the millennial temple for what the silver and gold foreshadows is now realized in His redeemed earthly people. The heavenly Jerusalem has gold in it, but silver is not mentioned in the description of the city in Revelation xxi.

The chief ornaments in this temple are cherubim and palm trees; they were along the wall of the temple. So it was in the temple of Solomon. "And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers within and without" (1 Kings vi:29).

A palm tree was between cherub and cherub. As stated in the previous chapter palms are the emblems of victory and remind us of the feast of tabernacles. They were seen high above on the posts. Cherubim speak of the presence of the Lord, who enters this house and is worshipped here. But the cherubim here have only two faces and not four as in the opening vision of this book (chapter i:10-12). As often stated, these celestial beings tell out the Lord Jesus Christ in His personal glory. The lion, His kingly glory; the face of a man, His true humanity; the face of an ox, His servant character; and the face of an eagle. His heavenly origin and destiny, Son of God. It is not without meaning that the face of a man and the face of a young lion are seen on these cherubim and each face looks upon a palm tree. Its symbolical meaning is obvious. The Lord Jesus Christ has come again and visited the earth and the temple and appeared as the glorified Man and the Lion of the tribe of Judah. His is the victory and the glory. When at last this temple stands in Israel's land, and its meaning and measurements, as well as other details, are fully known and understood, it will be known then that His blessed work, victory and person are symbolically seen throughout this house.

The altar was of wood, three cubits high and two cubits long. "And he said unto me, This is the table which is before Jehovah." The altar is the altar of incense. The burnt offering altar is described in chapter xliii:13, etc. In the tabernacle and Solomon's temple the altar of incense was overlaid with gold. Note also the difference in the measurement. The altar of incense in the tabernacle was two cubits high and one cubit long and broad; the altar in the future temple is three cubits high and two cubits long, nearly double in size. The incense offered upon the altar is the symbol of the fragrance Christ is to God. It also typifies praise and prayer (Ps. cxli:2; Rev. v:8; viii:3); being communion with God it is here called "the table which is before Jehovah." How great will be the fragrance of Christ, and the praise and worship God will receive, in this great house of worship!

There were also two doors for the sanctuary with two turning leaves. They were ornamented, like the walls, with cherubim and palm trees.

THE CELLS FOR THE PRIESTS.