Ezekiel 43:13-17

The altar

13 These are the dimensions of the altar, according to a twenty-one-inch unit of measure. The base is twenty-one inches high and twenty-one inches wide, with an outer curb measuring one and a half inches all around. This is the altar's height.

14 From the base at ground level to the lower ledge is forty-two inches; the lower ledge is twenty-one inches wide. The distance from the lower to the upper ledge is seven feet; the upper ledge is twenty-one inches wide.

15 The hearth is seven feet high, with four horns projecting upward from the hearth.

16 The hearth is twenty-one feet square; each side is equal to the others.

17 The ledge around the hearth is twenty-four and a half feet long by twenty-four and a half feet wide, a square. Its outer rim is ten and a half inches, and its base all around is twenty-one inches. Its ramp faces east.

Ezekiel 43:13-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 43

The temple or house of God being measured, the worship of God in it is pointed out and observed in this and the following chapter; and which, though evangelical, is expressed in the language of the Old Testament. An account is given of the glory of the Lord returning to the house, and the way he did, and his taking possession of it, which the prophet was favoured with a view of, Eze 43:1-5, a promise is made of his continuance there, provided his people behaved as they should, Eze 43:6-9, an order is given to the prophet, to show them the form and fashion, the laws, orders, and ordinances of the house to them, to be observed by them, Eze 43:10-12, then follows the measuring of the altar of burnt offerings; which, though measured before in chapter forty, the dimensions are here given, Eze 43:13-17, and the chapter is concluded with directions about the consecration of it, Eze 43:18-27.

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb ammah ammah, traditionally a long cubit