And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still
upward to
the side chambers
These chambers, as they rose up in stories one above another,
were larger and larger; those in the middlemost storey were
larger than those in the lower storey by a cubit; so much being
taken out of the thickness of the wall, to make the rests or
rebatements for the beams of the floor to rest upon, by which so
much was gained in breadth for the chambers; and those in the
upper storey, for the same reason, were a cubit broader than
those in the middle, and two cubits broader than the lowermost;
the floor of the first and lower storey was four cubits broad, (
Ezekiel
41:5 ) the floor of the second five cubits; and the floor of
the third or uppermost six cubits. The wall of the temple at the
bottom was six cubits thick, ( Ezekiel 41:5
) , at the middlemost storey five cubits; and at the uppermost
four: and all this may denote the enlargement of the church of
Christ, as it comes nearer the heavenly state; the present state
of the church may be signified by the lower storey, where the
chambers are narrowest; the state of the church in the latter day
glory, or spiritual reign of Christ, by the middlemost, when it
will be enlarged; its converts being very numerous, ( Isaiah 49:19
Isaiah
49:20 ) ( Isaiah 60:4 Isaiah 60:5 ) and the
New Jerusalem church state by the uppermost storey; which city or
state will be very large, and next to heaven, or the ultimate
glory; see ( Revelation
21:16 ) . The "winding" that went upwards to the side
chambers were winding stairs, which went up from one storey to
another, higher and higher; see ( 1 Kings 6:8 ) . The
Misnic doctors say F3, that in the second temple these
winding stairs went from one side of the temple to the other,
from the north east to the northwest; by which they went up to
the roofs of these chambers and to the upper room over the
sanctuary. These may signify the various afflictions and
tribulations, trials and exercises, in which the Lord leads his
people, and by which the churches of Christ pass from one state
to another: for the winding about of the house went still
upward round about the
house:
not on the outside, but within; properly round about the
chambers, which are here called the house: therefore the
breadth of the house was still upward;
became broader and broader, as it rose up higher and higher:
and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by
the midst;
from being only four cubits broad in the lowest storey, it became
five cubits in the middlemost, and from thence six cubits in the
highest.