Ezekiel 41

The length thereof, twenty cubits - This is the measurement of the sanctuary, or holy of holies. See G in the plan. This also was the exact measurement of Solomon's temple, see 1Kgs 6:20 . This, and the other resemblances here, sufficiently prove that Ezekiel's temple and that of Solomon were on the same plan; and that the latter temple was intended to be an exact resemblance of the former. Verse 6 The side chambers were three - We find by Joseph. Antiq. 8:3, 2, that round Solomon's temple were chambers three stories high, each story consisting of thirty chambers. It is supposed that twelve were placed to the north of the temple, twelve to the south, and six to the east. Entered into the wall - The beams were admitted into the outer wall, but they rested on projections of the inner wall. Verse 7 An enlarging, and a winding about - Perhaps a winding staircase that-widened upward as the inner wall decreased in thickness; this wall being six cubits thick; as high as the first story, five from the floor of the second story to that of the third, and four from the floor to the ceiling of the third story: and thus there was a rest of one cubit in breadth to support the stories. - Newcome. Verse 9 The thickness of the wall - See LLL in the plan. The place of the side chambers - A walk, or gallery of communication along the chambers, five cubits broad, Eze 41:11 . Verse 11 And the doors - See the plan, aa. bb. Verse 12 The length thereof ninety cubits - The temple, with the buildings which surrounded it, was eighty-one cubits long; add ten cubits for the vestibule, or five for the breadth of the separate place, and five for its wall; in all, ninety cubits. See the plan, LHIL. By the separate place I suppose the temple itself is meant. Verse 13 So he measured the house - The temple, taken from the wall which encompassed it from the western side to the vestibule, was one hundred and one cubits; five for the separate place, nine for the wall and the chambers attached to the temple, sixty for the sanctuary and the holy place, ten for the vestibule, and twelve for the two great walls on the west and east of the temple; in all, one hundred and one cubits, See the plan, GHI. Verse 14 The breadth of the face of the house - That is, the front. See the plan, FRR. Verse 18 A palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub - That is, the palm trees and the cherubs were alternated; and each cherub had two faces, one of a lion and the other of a man; one of which was turned to the palm tree on the right, the other to the palm tree on the left. Verse 20 From the ground unto above the door - The temple was thirty cubits high, 1Kgs 6:2 , the gate was fourteen cubits, chap. Eze 40:48 . The palm trees and the cherubim were the same height as the gate or door. The windows were above the door. Verse 22 The altar of wood - This was the altar of incense, and was covered with plates of gold. Verse 25 There were thick planks - The wood, or planks, were thick and strong; for the cherubim and palm trees were carved in relief out of their substance, and unless they had been of considerable thickness, this could not have been done. Introduction This chapter gives us a description of the priests' chambers and their use, with the dimensions of the holy mount on which the temple stood, vv. 1-20. Verse 1 He brought me forth into the utter court - He brought him out from the temple into the court of the priests. This, in reference to the temple, was called the outer court; but the court of the people was beyond this. Verse 4 A walk of ten cubits' breadth inward - This seems to have been a sort of parapet. Verse 14

which was the breadth of the tabernacle. 2 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. 3 Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits. 9 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. 10 And between the chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side. 11 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. We are still attending a prophet that is under the guidance of an angel, and therefore attend with reverence, though we are often at a loss to know both what this is and what it is to us. Observe here, 1. After the prophet had observed the courts he was at length brought to the temple, v. 1 . If we diligently attend to the instructions given us in the plainer parts of religion, and profit by them, we shall be led further into an acquaintance with the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Those that are willing to dwell in God's courts shall at length be brought into his temple. Ezekiel was himself a priest, but by the iniquity and calamity of the times was cut short of his birthright privilege of ministering in the temple; but God makes up the loss to him by introducing him into this prophetical, evangelical, celestial temple, and employing him to transmit a description of it to the church, in which he was dignified above all the rest of his order. 2. When our Lord Jesus spoke of the destroying of this temple, which his hearers understood of this second temple of Jerusalem, he spoke of the temple of his body ( John ii. 19 , 21 ); and with good reason might he speak so ambiguously when Ezekiel's vision had a joint respect to them both together, including also his mystical body the church, which is called the house of God ( 1 Tim. iii. 15 ), and all the members of that body, which are living temples, in which the Spirit dwells. 3. The very posts of this temple, the door-posts, were as far one from the other, and consequently the door was as wide, as the whole breadth of the tabernacle of Moses ( v. 1 ), namely, twelve cubits, Exod. xxvi. 16 , 22 , 25 . In comparison with what had been under the law we may say, Wide is the gate which leads into the church, the ceremonial law, that wall of partition which had so much straitened the gate, being taken down. 4. The most holy place was an exact square, twenty cubits each way, v. 4 . For the new Jerusalem is exactly square ( Rev. xxi. 16 ), denoting its stability; for we look for a city that cannot be moved. 5. The upper stories were larger than the lower, v. 7 . The walls of the temple were six cubits thick at the bottom, five in the middle story, and four in the highest, which gave room to enlarge the chambers the higher they went; but care was taken that the timber might have fast hold (though God builds high, he builds firmly), yet so as not to weaken one part for the strengthening of another; they had hold, but not in the wall of the house. By this spreading gradually, the side-chambers that were on the height of the house (in the uppermost story of all) were six cubits, whereas the lowest were but four; they gained a cubit every story. The higher we build up ourselves in our most holy faith the more should our hearts, those living temples, be enlarged. The Vision of the Temple. ( b. c. 574.) 12 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

The breadth - These walls in their thickness took up as much space as the whole breadth of Moses's tabernacle, Exod 26:16 ,22.

Went he - From the porch thro' the body of the temple, to the partition between the body of the temple and the holy of holies. Measured - Either the thickness of that partition wall, or of the pilasters, which stood one on the one side, and the other on the other side of the door. Of the door - Or entrance out of the temple into the oracle. And the door - This door was six cubits broad, and an upright bar or post on which the leaves met, and which was of one cubit's breadth, make out seven cubits.

Thereof - Of the holy of holies, which was an exact square. Before - Parallel with the breadth of the temple.

After - Having left the holy of holies, now he is come to take the measures of the outer wall. The house - The temple. Six cubits - Three yards thick was this wall from the ground to the first story of the side - chambers. Side - chamber - Of the lowest floor; for there were three stories of these, and they differed in their breadth, as the wall of the temple, on which they rested, abated of its thickness; for the middle chambers were broader than the lowest by a cubit, and the highest as much broader than the middle. Round about - On the north, south, and west parts, on each side of every one of these three gates.

They might - That the beams of the chambers might have good and firm resting - hold. Had not hold - The ends of the beams were not thrust into the main body of the wall of the temple.

An enlarging - Of the side chambers, so much of breadth added to the chamber, as was taken from the thickness of the wall; that is, two cubits in the uppermost, and one cubit in the middle - most, more than in the lowest chambers. A winding about - Winding stairs, which enlarged as the rooms did, and these run up between each two chambers from the bottom to the top; so there were two doors at the head of each pair of stairs, one door opening into one chamber, and the other into the opposite chamber. For the winding about - These stairs, as they rose in height, enlarged themselves too. Round about - On all sides of the house where these chambers were. The breadth - Of each chamber. Increased - Grew broader by one cubit in every upper chamber. From five in the lowest to six in the middle, and to seven in the highest chamber.

The foundations - The lowest chamber had properly a foundation laid on the earth, but the floor of the middle, and highest story must be accounted here a foundation; so from the ground to the ceiling of the first room, was six great cubits; from the first to the second, six great cubits; and from the third floor to the roof of the chamber, a like number; to which add we one cubit for thickness of each of the three floors, you have twenty - one cubits for height, ten yards and a half high.

The place - The walk and wall.

The doors - The doors of the lowest row opened into this void paved space.

was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits. 13 So he measured the house, a hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long; 14 Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, a hundred cubits. 15 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, a hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the porches of the court; 16 The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, cieled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered; 17 To that above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure. 18 And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces; 19 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. 20 From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple. 21 The posts of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary; the appearance of the one as the appearance of the other. 22 The altar of wood was 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 . 23 And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors. 24 And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves; two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door. 25 And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without. 26 And there were narrow 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 thick planks. Here is, 1. An account of a building that was before the separate place (that is, before the temple), at the end towards the west ( v. 12 ), which is here measured, and compared ( v. 13 ) with the measure of the house, and appears to be of equal dimensions with it. This stood in a court by itself, which is measured ( v. 15 ) and its galleries, or chambers belonging to it, its posts and windows, and the ornaments of them, v. 15-17 . But what use was to be made of this other building we are not told; perhaps, in this vision, it signified the setting up of a church among the Gentiles not inferior to the Jewish temple, but of quite another nature, and which should soon supersede it. 2. A description of the ornaments of the temple, and the other building. The walls on the inside from top to bottom were adorned with cherubim and palm-trees, placed alternately, as in Solomon's temple, 1 Kings vi. 29 . Each cherub is here said to have two faces, the face of a man towards the palm tree on one side and the face of a young lion towards the palm-tree on the other side, v. 19 . These seem to represent the angels, who have more than the wisdom of a man and the courage of a lion; and in both they have an eye to the palms of victory and triumph which are set before them, and which they are sure of in all their conflicts with the powers of darkness. And in the assemblies of the saints angels are in a special manner present, 1 Cor. xi. 10 . 3. A description of the posts of the doors both of the temple and of the sanctuary; they were squared ( v. 21 ), not round like pillars; and the appearance of the one was as the appearance of the other. In the tabernacle, and in Solomon's temple, the door of the sanctuary, or most holy, was narrower than that of the temple, but here it was fully as broad; for in gospel-times the way into the holiest of all is made more manifest than it was under the Old Testament ( Heb. ix. 8 ) and therefore the door is wider. These doors are described, v. 23, 24 . The temple and the sanctuary had each of them its door, and they were two-leaved, folding doors. 4. We have here the description of the altar of incense, here said to be an altar of wood, v. 22 . No mention is made of its being over-laid with gold; but surely it was intended to be so, else it would not bear the fire with which the incense was to be burned, unless we will suppose that it served only to put the censers upon. Or else it intimates that the incense to be offered in the gospel-temple shall be purely spiritual, and the fire spiritual, which will not consume an altar of wood. Therefore this altar is called a table. This is the table that is before the Lord. Here, as before, we find the altar turned into a table; for, the great sacrifice being now offered, that which we have to do is to feast upon the sacrifice at the Lord's table. 5. Here is the adorning of the doors and windows with palm-trees, that they might be of a piece with the walls of the house, v. 25, 26 . Thus the living temples are adorned, not with gold, or silver, or costly array, but with the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible. This chapter continues and concludes the describing and measuring of this mystical temple, which it is very hard to understand the particular architecture of, and yet more h

The building - This is a new building not yet mentioned, but now measured by itself.

The house - The whole temple, oracle, sanctuary and porch, with the walls. The building - On both the north and south - side of the temple.

The breadth - The whole front of the house eastward.

Cherubim - Generally taken for the portrait of angels, or young men with wings: yet is the description of them very different in different places; in Ezekiel's vision, Eze 1:5 - 14 10:14, Isaiah's vision, Isa 6:2 , John's vision, Rev 4:6 - 8, and in Solomon's temple, 1Kin 6:23 - 26.

Through all the house - And thus it was through the whole house round about.

The face - The door or gate of the temple was square, not arched. As the appearance - As was the form of the gate of the temple in its larger, so was the form of the gate of the oracle in its lesser dimensions.

The altar - Of incense. The corners - The horns framed out of the four posts at each angle on the top of the altar. The walls - The sides. Before the Lord - In the temple, not in the holy of holies.

Two doors - Each had one.

Them - The doors of both temple and oracle. The temple - Including the holy of holies also.