Ezekiel 40:28-38

28 And he led me into the inner foreyard, to the south gate; and he meted the gate by the former measures; (And he led me into the inner courtyard, to the southern gateway; and the gateway had the same measurements as the other gateways;)

29 the (little) chamber[s] thereof, and the post(s) thereof, and the porch thereof by the same measures; and he meted the windows thereof, and the porch thereof in compass; fifty cubits of length, and five and twenty cubits of breadth. (its little chambers, and its posts, and its porch, had the same measurements as the others; and he measured its windows, and its porch all around; fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in breadth.)

30 And he meted the porch by compass, the length of five and twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof of five cubits. (And he measured the porch all around, its length was twenty-five cubits, and its breadth was five cubits.)

31 And the porch thereof was to the outermore foreyard, and the palm trees thereof in the post(s); and eight degrees were, by which men ascended through it. (And its porch faced the outer courtyard, and palm trees were carved on its posts; and there were eight steps, by which people went up to it.)

32 And he led me into the inner foreyard, by the east way; and he meted the gate by the former measures; (And he led me into the inner courtyard, facing east; and he measured the gateway, and it had the same measurements as the other gateways;)

33 the (little) chamber(s) thereof, and the post(s) thereof, and the porches thereof, as above; and he meted the windows thereof, and the porches thereof in compass; the length of fifty cubits, and the breadth of five and twenty cubits; (its little chambers, and its posts, and its porch, were as above; and he measured its windows, and its porch all around; the length of fifty cubits, and the breadth of twenty-five cubits;)

34 and the porch thereof, that is, of the outermore foreyard; and palm trees graven in the post(s) thereof, on this side and on that side; and in eight degrees was the ascending thereof. (and its porch, that is, of the outer courtyard; and palm trees were carved on its posts, on this side and on that side; and the stairway that went up to it had eight steps.)

35 And he led me in to the gate that beheld to the north; and he meted by the former measures; (And he led me to the gateway that faced north; and he measured it, and it had the same measurements as the others;)

36 the (little) chamber[s] thereof, and the post(s) thereof, and the porch thereof, and the windows thereof by compass; the length of fifty cubits, and the breadth of five and twenty cubits. (its little chambers, and its posts, and its porch, and its windows all around; the length of fifty cubits, and the breadth of twenty-five cubits.)

37 The porch thereof beheld to the outermore foreyard; and the engraving of palm trees was in the post(s) thereof, on this side and on that side; and in eight degrees was the ascending thereof. (Its porch faced the outer courtyard; and palm trees were carved on its posts, on this side and on that side; and the stairway that went up to it had eight steps.)

38 And by all chambers a door was in the posts of gates; and there they washed burnt sacrifice. (And the chambers, or the rooms, and their doors, were by the gateposts; and they washed the burnt sacrifice there.)

Ezekiel 40:28-38 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 40

This and the eight following chapters contain a vision of a city and temple herein described, and are thought to be the most difficult part of the whole Bible. The Jews forbid the reading of it till a man is arrived to thirty years of age; and then he must expect to meet with things in it he does not understand, and which must be left until Elijah comes to explain them. Many Christian commentators have omitted the exposition of these chapters; and all acknowledge the difficulties in them. Something however may be got out of them, relating to the Gospel, and Gospel church state, which I am fully persuaded is intended by the city and temple; for that no material building can be designed is clear from this one observation; that not only the whole land of Israel would not be capable of having such a city as is here described built upon it, but even all Europe would not be sufficient; nor the whole world, according to the account of the dimensions which some give of it. The circumference of the city is said to be about eighteen thousand measures, Eze 48:35; but what they are is not certain. Luther makes them to be thirty six thousand German miles; and a German mile being three of ours, the circuit of this city must be above a hundred thousand English miles; and this is sufficient to set aside all hypotheses of a material building, either of city or temple, the one being in proportion to the other. The Jews dream of a third temple to be built, by their vainly expected Messiah; but nothing is more clear than that the true Messiah was to come into the second temple, and by that give it a greater glory than the former ever had; as is evident from Hag 2:6-9 and, according to Malachi, he was to come suddenly into his temple, which could be no other than the then present one, Mal 3:1, and into which Jesus came, and where he often appeared and taught, as well as entered into it with power and authority, as the Lord and proprietor of it; by which he appeared to be the true Messiah, as by many other characters; see \Lu 2:22,46 21:37 Mt 21:12,13\. There are some who think that Solomon's temple, as it was before it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and as it was rebuilt by Zerubbabel, is here described; and that partly to let the Jews know what a glory to their nation they lost by their sins; and partly that they might have a complete pattern for the rebuilding of it, as well as to comfort them under its present ruins; but there is no agreement between them. This temple was to be built at a distance from the city, several miles; according to some ten, others twenty, and by the best account twenty seven miles; see Eze 45:1-5, whereas Solomon's temple, and that built by Zerubbabel, were in the city of Jerusalem: nor from either of these flowed waters, which rose up to a river, on the bank of which were many trees for food and medicine, and whose waters were healing, and quickened wherever they came, as from this, Eze 47:1-12, nor do we ever read of the east gate of these temples always shut, as this, Eze 44:2, and besides, both these temples were profaned and destroyed; whereas this shall never be, but God will dwell in it forever, Eze 43:7, neither place, structure, nor worship, agree. Nor is this city here the same with the New Jerusalem John had a vision of; for though he borrows some of his expressions to describe it from hence; and in some things there is an appearance of agreement, as of the river of water of life, and the tree of life on both sides of the river, Re 22:1,2, yet the description agrees not, either with respect to its gates, or its compass; and though there was no temple in that John saw, as there was none in this, it being without the city; yet here is a temple in this vision, and the greatest part of it is taken up in the description of it. It remains that this must be understood mystically and figuratively of the Gospel church, which is often spoken of as a city and temple, Heb 12:22, Re 3:12 and which began to have its accomplishment in the first times of the Gospel, immediately after the death and resurrection of Christ; when his disciples had a commission to preach the Gospel to all nations; and who accordingly did, even before the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the material temple, so that Gospel churches were planted in all parts of the world; and especially this was the case, when the Roman empire, called the whole world, became Christian: though the further and greater accomplishment of this vision will be in the latter day; when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea; when Jews and Gentiles will be converted, and Gospel churches be set up everywhere; so that the Gospel church state, or kingdom of Christ, signified by the great mountain in Da 2:35, and by this large city here, will fill the whole earth: and the rather this may be thought to be the design of this vision to represent it, as it follows the prophecies of the Jews' settlement in their own land; and of the destruction of Gog, or the Turk, attempting to dispossess them; of which in chapters 37-39. In this chapter are first an account of the vision in general, the time, manner, and place of it, Eze 40:1,2, a description of the person, the builder and owner of the house; and by whom the prophet is shown each of the parts and dimensions of it, whom he calls to him for that purpose, Eze 40:3,4, and then a particular account is given, which begins with the outward wall around the house, Eze 40:5, then the east gate, with its posts, porch, and chambers, and the outward court with its chambers, Eze 40:6-19, then the gate of the outward court to the north, with its chambers, and the gate of the inner court over against that, Eze 40:20-23, then the gate to the south, with its posts, arches, and chambers, Eze 40:24-31, then the inner court to the east, its gate, chambers, and arches, Eze 40:32-34, then the north gate, with its posts, chambers, and arches, Eze 40:35-38, in the porch of which are the tables, on which the sacrifices are slain, Eze 40:39-43, after which are described the chambers for the singers and the priests, Eze 40:44-46, then the inner court and altar in it; and the chapter is concluded with the dimensions of the porch of the house, Eze 40:48,49.