Ezekiel 43:5-15

5 And the spirit, lifting me up, took me into the inner square; and I saw that the house was full of the glory of the Lord.

6 And the voice of one talking to me came to my ears from inside the house; and the man was by my side.

7 And he said to me, Son of man, this is the place where the seat of my power is and the resting-place of my feet, where I will be among the children of Israel for ever: and no longer will the people of Israel make my holy name unclean, they or their kings, by their loose ways and by the dead bodies of their kings;

8 By putting their doorstep by my doorstep, and the pillar of their door by the pillar of my door, with only a wall between me and them; and they have made my holy name unclean by the disgusting things which they have done: so in my wrath I sent destruction on them.

9 Now let them put their loose ways and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will be among them for ever.

10 You, son of man, give the children of Israel an account of this house, so that they may be shamed because of their evil-doing: and let them see the vision of it and its image.

11 And they will be shamed by what they have done; so give them the knowledge of the form of the house and its structure, and the ways out of it and into it, and all its laws and its rules, writing it down for them: so that they may keep all its laws and do them.

12 This is the law of the house: On the top of the mountain all the space round it on every side will be most holy. See, this is the law of the house.

13 And these are the measures of the altar in cubits: (the cubit being a cubit and a hand's measure;) its hollow base is a cubit high and a cubit wide, and it has an overhanging edge as wide as a hand-stretch all round it:

14 And from the base on the earth level to the lower shelf, the altar is two cubits high and a cubit wide; and from the smaller shelf to the greater shelf it is four cubits high and a cubit wide.

15 And the fireplace is four cubits high: and coming up from the fireplace are the horns, a cubit high.

Ezekiel 43:5-15 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.