Ezekiel 40
BSB
The Man with a Measuring Rod
(Zechariah 2:1–5)
1In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He took me there. 2In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose southern slope was a structure that resembled a city.
3So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. 4“Son of man,” he said to me, “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Report to the house of Israel everything you see.”
The East Gate
5And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured the wall to be one rod thick and one rod high.
6Then he came to the gate facing east and climbed its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate to be one rod deep. 7Each gate chamber was one rod long and one rod wide, and there were five cubits between the gate chambers. The inner threshold of the gate by the portico facing inward was one rod deep. 8Then he measured the portico of the gateway inside; 9it was eight cubits deep, and its jambs were two cubits thick. And the portico of the gateway faced the temple.
10There were three gate chambers on each side of the east gate, each with the same measurements, and the gateposts on either side also had the same measurements. 11And he measured the width of the gateway entrance to be ten cubits, and its length was thirteen cubits.
12In front of each gate chamber was a wall one cubit high, and the gate chambers were six cubits square. 13Then he measured the gateway from the roof of one gate chamber to the roof of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits from doorway to doorway.
14Next he measured the gateposts to be sixty cubits high. The gateway extended around to the gatepost of the courtyard. 15And the distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its inner portico was fifty cubits.
16The gate chambers and their side pillars had beveled windows all around the inside of the gateway. The porticos also had windows all around on the inside. Each side pillar was decorated with palm trees.
The Outer Court
17Then he brought me into the outer court, and there were chambers and a pavement laid out all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement, 18which flanked the gateways and corresponded to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement.
19Then he measured the distance from the front of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court; it was a hundred cubits on the east side as well as on the north.
The North Gate
20He also measured the length and width of the gateway of the outer court facing north. 21Its three gate chambers on each side, its side pillars, and its portico all had the same measurements as the first gate: fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 22Its windows, portico, and palm trees had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them.
23There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the east. He measured the distance from gateway to gateway to be a hundred cubits.
The South Gate
24Then he led me to the south side, and I saw a gateway facing south. He measured its side pillars and portico, and they had the same measurements as the others. 25Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around, like the other windows. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 26Seven steps led up to it, and its portico was opposite them; it had palm trees on its side pillars, one on each side.
27The inner court also had a gate facing south, and he measured the distance from gateway to gateway toward the south to be a hundred cubits.
The Gates of the Inner Court
28Next he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same measurements as the others. 29Its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 30(The porticoes around the inner court were twenty-five cubits long and five cubits deep.) 31Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees. Eight steps led up to it.
32And he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gateway; it had the same measurements as the others. 33Its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 34Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees on each side. Eight steps led up to it.
35Then he brought me to the north gate and measured it. It had the same measurements as the others, 36as did its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico. It also had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 37Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees on each side. Eight steps led up to it.
Eight Tables for Sacrifices
38There was a chamber with a doorway by the portico in each of the inner gateways. There the burnt offering was to be washed. 39Inside the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were to be slaughtered.
40Outside, as one goes up to the entrance of the north gateway, there were two tables on one side and two more tables on the other side of the gate’s portico. 41So there were four tables inside the gateway and four outside—eight tables in all—on which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered.
42There were also four tables of dressed stone for the burnt offering, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit high. On these were placed the utensils used to slaughter the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices.
43The double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth long, were fastened all around the inside of the room, and the flesh of the offering was to be placed on the tables.
Chambers for Ministry
44Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two chambers, one beside the north gate and facing south, and another beside the south gate and facing north.
45Then the man said to me: “The chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple, 46and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the only Levites who may approach the LORD to minister before Him.”
The Inner Court
47Next he measured the court. It was square, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.
48Then he brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the side pillars of the portico to be five cubits on each side. The width of the gateway was fourteen cubits and its sidewalls were three cubits on either side. 49The portico was twenty cubits wide and twelve cubits deep, and ten steps led up to it. There were columns by the side pillars, one on each side.
Introduction
Ezekiel 40
The waters of the sanctuary which this prophet saw in vision (Eze 47:1) are a proper representation of this prophecy. Hitherto the waters have been sometimes but to the ankles, in other places to the knees, or to the loins, but now the waters have risen, and have become "a river which cannot be passed over." Here is one continued vision, beginning at this chapter, to the end of the book, which is justly looked upon to be one of the most difficult portions of scripture in all the book of God. The Jews will not allow any to read it till they are thirty years old, and tell those who do read it that, though they cannot understand every thing in it, "when Elias comes he will explain it." Many commentators, both ancient and modern, have owned themselves at a loss what to make of it and what use to make of it. But because it is hard to be understood we must not therefore throw it by, but humbly search concerning it, get as far as we can into it and as much as we can out of it, and, when we despair of satisfaction in every difficulty we meet with, bless God that our salvation does not depend upon it, but that things necessary are plain enough, and wait till God shall reveal even this unto us. These chapters are the more to be regarded because the last two chapters of the Revelation seem to have a plain allusion to them, as Rev 20:1-15 has to the foregoing prophecy of Gog and Magog. Here is the vision of a glorious temple (in this chapter and ch. 41 and 42), of God's taking possession of it (ch. 43), orders concerning the priests that are to minister in this temple (ch. 44), the division of the land, what portion should be allotted for the sanctuary, what for the city, and what for the prince, both in his government of the people and his worship of God (ch. 45), and further instructions for him and the people, ch. 46. After the vision of the holy waters we have the borders of the holy land, and the portions assigned to the tribes, and the dimensions and gates of the holy city, ch. 47, 48. Some make this to represent what had been during the flourishing state of the Jewish church, how glorious Solomon's temple was in its best days, that the captives might see what they had lost by sin and might be the more humbled. But that seems not probable. The general scope of it I take to be, 1. To assure the captives that they should not only return to their own land, and be settled there, which had been often promised in the foregoing chapters, but that they should have, and therefore should be encouraged to build, another temple, which God would own, and where he would meet them and bless them, that the ordinances of worship should be revived, and the sacred priesthood should there attend; and, though they should not have a king to live in such splendour as formerly, yet they should have a prince or ruler (who is often spoken of in this vision), who should countenance the worship of God among them and should himself be an example of diligent attendance upon it, and that prince, priests, and people, should have a very comfortable settlement and subsistence in their own land. 2. To direct them to look further than all this, and to expect the coming of the Messiah, who had before been prophesied of under the name of David because he was the man that projected the building of the temple and that should set up a spiritual temple, even the gospel-church, the glory of which should far exceed that of Solomon's temple, and which should continue to the end of time. The dimensions of these visionary buildings being so large (the new temple more spacious than all the old Jerusalem and the new Jerusalem of greater extent than all the land of Canaan) plainly intimates, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, that these things cannot be literally, but must spiritually, understood. At the gospel-temple, erected by Christ and his apostles, was so closely connected with the second material temple, was erected so carefully just at the time when that fell into decay, that it might be ready to receive its glories when it resigned them, that it was proper enough that they should both be referred to in one and the same vision. Under the type and figure of a temple and altar, priests and sacrifices, is foreshown the spiritual worship that should be performed in gospel times, more agreeable to the nature both of God and man, and that perfected at last in the kingdom of glory, in which perhaps these visions will have their full accomplishment, and some think in some happy and glorious state of the gospel-church on this side heaven, in the latter days.
In this chapter we have, I. A general account of this vision of the temple and city (Eze 40:1-4). II. A particular account of it entered upon; and a description given, 1. Of the outside wall (Eze 40:5). 2. Of the east gate (Eze 40:6-19). 3. Of the north gate (Eze 40:20-23). 4. Of the south gate (Eze 40:24-31) and the chambers and other appurtenances belonging to these gates. 5. Of the inner court, both towards the east and towards the south (Eze 40:32-38). 6. Of the tables (Eze 40:39-43). 7. Of the lodgings for the singers and the priests (Eze 40:44-47). 8. Of the porch of the house (Eze 40:48, Eze 40:49).
Cross-references: Ezek 47:1 · Rev 20:1 · Ezek 40:1 · Ezek 40:5 · Ezek 40:6 · Ezek 40:20 · Ezek 40:24 · Ezek 40:32 · Ezek 40:39 · Ezek 40:44 · Ezek 40:48 · Ezek 40:49