Ezekiel 43:16

16 And the altar hearth [was] {twelve} [cubits] [in] length and {twelve} [cubits] [in] width; [it was] {squared on its four sides}.

Ezekiel 43:16 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 43:16

And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad
The length of it, from east to west, was twelve cubits; and the breadth, from north to south, was the same; so that it was a proper foursquare, as follows: Christ the altar, or the doctrine of his sacrifice and satisfaction for the sins of men, is the doctrine of the twelve apostles of Christ, and embraced by the twelve times twelve, the 144,000 that belong unto him: square in the four squares thereof;
as the altar in the tabernacle, and Solomon's temple, were, ( Exodus 27:1 ) ( 2 Chronicles 4:1 ) , denoting the largeness of Christ's sacrifice, the perfection of it, and its stability and permanency, to take away the sin, of his people.

Ezekiel 43:16 In-Context

14 And from the gutter at the ground up to the lower ledge [is] two cubits, and [its] width [is] one cubit, and from the small ledge up to the large ledge [is] four cubits, and [its] width [is] one cubit.

15 And the altar hearth [was] four cubits, and from the altar hearth and {upwards} [were] the four horns [of the altar].

16 And the altar hearth [was] {twelve} [cubits] [in] length and {twelve} [cubits] [in] width; [it was] {squared on its four sides}.

17 And the ledge [was] {fourteen} [cubits] in length with {fourteen} [cubits] [its] width to [all] four of its sides, and a rim [was] all around it of one-half cubit. And the gutter for it [was] a cubit all around, and its steps [were] facing east."

18 And he said to me, "Son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'These [are] the statutes of the altar on the day {when it is made}, to sacrifice a burnt offering on it and to sprinkle blood on it.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "two ten"
• [b]. Literally "two ten"
• [c]. That is, 21 feet square
• [d]. Literally "squared to the four of its sides"