Ezekiel 43:20

20 You must take some of its blood and put [it] on {the four horns of the altar}, and the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim all around; thus you must purify it and make atonement for it.

Ezekiel 43:20 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 43:20

And thou shalt take of the blood thereof
Ezekiel being a priest. This must be understood in a visionary way; for, as Kimchi observes, Ezekiel did not live to come up out of the captivity, but died, and was buried in the land of Babylon, and so did not actually do this: though it is a mere dream of the same writer, that this is to be understood of the resurrection of the dead, when he supposes Ezekiel will be high priest, though Aaron be present; or however be the second, or deputy to him. And put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the
settle, and upon the border round about;
that is, on the four horns of the altar, and on the four corners of the settle which went round it, for the priests to walk on, and do their business; either the uppermost, or as others the lowermost, and as some both; and also on the border or ledge that enclosed the settle. The prophet's doing this, putting the blood on these several things, represents the nature of the Gospel ministry, and the business of it; which is to hold forth the blood of Christ, and the blessings of grace through it, as redemption, peace, pardon, righteousness, and life. Thus shall thou cleanse and purge it;
the altar; thus Christ, though without sin, and needed no cleansing and purging for himself, yet was sanctified by his own blood; that he might sanctify his people, and perfect by his sacrifice them that were sanctified, ( John 17:19 ) ( Hebrews 10:14 Hebrews 10:29 ) ( 13:12 ) .

Ezekiel 43:20 In-Context

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.
19 And you must give to the Levitical priests who [are] from the offspring of Zadok, the [ones] [coming] near me," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "to serve me, a bull, {a calf} as [a] sin offering.
20 You must take some of its blood and put [it] on {the four horns of the altar}, and the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim all around; thus you must purify it and make atonement for it.
21 And you must take the bull, the sin offering, and you must burn it in the designated place of the temple outside of the holy place.
22 And on the second day you must offer a he-goat without defect as [a] sin offering, and they must purify the altar {like} they purified with the bull.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "on its four horns"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.