Ezekiel 40 Footnotes

40:1–48:35 What is the meaning of the new worship of chaps. 40–48? It is fitting that the writings of Ezekiel, a priest, would conclude with the presentation of a new temple and new sacrificial system in the restoration of God’s kingdom. This promise was partly realized when Israel returned after the exile and partly realized when Israel became a nation again in 1948. In a Christian interpretation, the realization is present now in the worshiping church and in the Spirit-filled life in the risen Christ which is the “Father’s promise” (Ac 1:4; Gl 3:14). The final part will be realized by the rule of the Messiah in his millennial kingdom. For Ezekiel the vision was a whole and only in retrospect have stages of fulfillment been discerned.

40:1-4 Ezekiel’s detailed description, including precise measurements, suggests that the prophet saw a literal future temple. No such temple has been built—neither the temple of the returned exiles nor the grand edifice erected by Herod the Great followed Ezekiel’s blueprint. Many conservative scholars agree that Ezekiel’s vision was for the latter days of the end time.

This is the last dated prophecy in the book, in the spring of 573 BC. It was not the last message chronologically, as the vision of 29:17-21 is older. Ezekiel was in the twenty-fifth year of exile. In this vision he was taken to Jerusalem, fourteen years after its fall (40:1), and the actual city was still in ruins. The language of this vision suggests Ezekiel believed he was seeing Jerusalem in a Jubilee Year of the latter days, evidence suggesting the advent of the millennial kingdom.

40:31-34,37,39-41 Many of the details of the temple complex the prophet envisioned had typological significance. Each of the gates in the inner court had eight steps instead of seven (vv. 31,34,37). Eight is a messianic number in rabbinic literature, suggesting the Messiah is the only way of access (Ac 4:12). Details such as a washroom for cleansing sacrifices and eight slaughter tables also pointed to the work of the Messiah, the perfect sacrifice (Heb 10:10).