And he measured the length of the building over against the
separate place
Which was ninety cubits, as appears from ( Ezekiel 41:12 ) , when measured by itself: which was behind it;
that is, behind the separate place, or holiest of all, at the back of it, at the west end. Noldius F7 renders the words, "he measured the length of the building before the separate place, and behind it"; or its back part, as the Syriac, and interprets it thus; that he measured the building or the porch which was before the temple, that is to the north; and the porch opposite to it, that is to the south: this "building" behind it, with the Jews F8, is the same with Bethchaliphoth F9, or the house of knives, which the priests used in sacrificing: and the galleries thereof on the one side, and on the other side, an
hundred cubits;
as the above is the length of this building from east to west, this is the breadth of it from north to south; the breadth of the building itself was seventy cubits, ( Ezekiel 41:12 ) , and the galleries on the north and south sides of it, and the thickness of the walls, which were five cubits each, made thirty more; in all a hundred cubits; which is equal to the breadth of the temple, as in the preceding verse: these galleries, or balconies, or porticos, supported by pilasters, design places for the saints to walk in, converse, and commune with one another; and where Christ the King of saints is held forth, and seen in his beauty and glory; see ( Zechariah 3:7 ) ( Song of Solomon 7:5 ) ( John 17:24 ) : with the inner temple, and the porches of the court;
or, "and the inner temple" F11 that is, and he also measured the inner temple or holy of holies, with all the porches, chambers, and their walls, and with all the spaces and appendages to it, which were of the same measure; see ( Ezekiel 41:15 ) .