SCRIPTURE: EZEKIEL 40
THE NEW TEMPLE AREA (vs. 1-4)
God brought Ezekiel to the land of Israel and set him in a very high mountain. And this is what he saw:
- A man whose appearance was like a bronze. (v. 3a)
- He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. (v. 3b)
- The man told me to look with my eyes and hear with my ears and pay attention to everything I see.. (v. 4)
THE EAST GATE TO THE OUTER COURT (vs. 5-16)
HERE ARE THE PRESCRIBED MEASUREMENTS:
- Wall – one measuring rod thick and one rod high (v. 5)
- Threshold of the gate – one rod deep. (v. 6)
- Alcoves for the guards – one rod long and one rod wide. (v. 7a)
- Projecting walls between the alcoves – 5 cubits thick (v. 7b)
- Portico of the gateway – 2 cubits deep (v. 8a)
- Jambs – 2 cubits thick. (v. 8b)
- Entrance to the gateway – 13 cubits length and 10 cubits width (v. 11)
- Wall in front of each alcove – 1 cubit high (v. 12a)
- Alcoves – 6 cubits square. (v. 12b)
- Distance from the top of the real wall of one alcove to the opposite side – 25 cubits (v. 13)
- Faces of the projecting walls all around the inside of the gateway – 60 cubits (v. 14a)
- Distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its portico – 50 cubits (v. 15)
THE OUTER COURT ( vs. 17-19)
There were 30 rooms along the pavement with a distance of 100 cubits on the east side and on the north.
THE NORTH GATE (vs. 20-23)
The North gate has 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide with 7 steps., There were gates to the north and also on the east having 100 cubits.
THE SOUTH GATE (vs. 24-27)
The jambs and portico was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide with 7 steps and a plam tree decorated on the walls. The gate to the outer gate on the south is 100 cubits.
GATES TO THE INNDER COURT (vs. 28-37)
- The gates and its portico had openings all around with 50 cubits long ands 25 cubits wide. (v. 29)
- The porticos of the gateway arounds the inner court was 25 cubits wide and 5 cubits deep. (v. 30)
- The gateway and its portico at the inner court on east side was 540 cubits long and 25 cubits wide with 8 steps. (vs. 32-34)
- The north gate was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide with with 8 steps.
THE ROOMS FOR PREPARING SACRIFICES (vs. 36-43)
A room with a doorway was by the portico in each of the inner gateways, where the burnt offerings were washed. There were two tables on each side of the porticos which the burnt offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings were slaughtered. A total of 8 tables on which the sacrifices were slaughtered. There were also a4 tables of dressed stone for the burnt offerings, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide and a cubit high. Utensils were place for slaughtering. And double pronged hooks, each a hand-breadth long, were attached to the wall all around. The tables were for the flesh of the offerings.
ROOMS FOR THE PRIESTS (vs. 44-47)
There were 2 rooms, one on the North gate and the other at the south gate. The room facing south is for the priest who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who are the only Levites who may draw near to the Lord to minister before him. The court was square – 100 cubits long and 100 cubits wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.
THE TEMPLE (vs. 48-49)
The temples jamb of the portico were 5 cubits wide on either side. The width of the entrance was 14 cubits and its projecting walls were 3 cubits wide and 12 cubits from front to back. It was reached by a flight of stairs, and there were pillars on each side of the jambs.
THOUGHTS:
The building of the Temple envisioned a time of complete restoration of the exiles.
The temple maybe interpreted in three ways:
(1)-This is a literal temple to be rebuilt during the millennial reign of Christ.
(2)-The temple is symbolic of the true worship of God by the Christian church.
(3)-This temple is symbolism of the future and eternal reign of God when his promise of blessings fill the earth.
The temple is a vision of God’s final perfect kingdom. This gave hope to the people of Ezekiel’s time whose nation and its temple had been destroyed without hope of rebuilding it in the near future The details given in the vision gave the people hope that what Ezekiel saw had come from God and will surely happen in the future.