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Ezekiel 41
1Then the man brought me into the outer sanctuary and measured the side pillars to be six cubits wide on each side.
2The width of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on each side. He also measured the length of the outer sanctuary to be forty cubits, and the width to be twenty cubits.
3And he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the side pillars at the entrance to be two cubits wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the walls on each side were seven cubits wide.
4Then he measured the room adjacent to the inner sanctuary to be twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”
5Next he measured the wall of the temple to be six cubits thick, and the width of each side room around the temple was four cubits.
6The side rooms were arranged one above another in three levels of thirty rooms each. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports would not be fastened into the wall of the temple itself.
7The side rooms surrounding the temple widened at each successive level, because the structure surrounding the temple ascended by stages corresponding to the narrowing of the temple wall as it rose upward. And so a stairway went up from the lowest story to the highest, through the middle one.
8I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the full length of a rod, six long cubits.
9The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick, and the open area between the side rooms of the temple
10and the outer chambers was twenty cubits wide all around the temple.
11The side rooms opened into this area, with one entrance on the north and another on the south. The open area was five cubits wide all around.
12Now the building that faced the temple courtyard on the west was seventy cubits wide, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, with a length of ninety cubits.
13Then he measured the temple to be a hundred cubits long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long.
14The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, was a hundred cubits.
15Next he measured the length of the building facing the temple courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries on each side; it was a hundred cubits. The outer sanctuary, the inner sanctuary, and the porticoes facing the court,
16as well as the thresholds and the beveled windows and the galleries all around with their three levels opposite the threshold, were overlaid with wood on all sides. They were paneled from the ground to the windows, and the windows were covered.
17In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary on all the walls, spaced evenly around the inner and outer sanctuary,
18were alternating carved cherubim and palm trees. Each cherub had two faces:
19the face of a man was toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion was toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved all the way around the temple.
20Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the outer sanctuary from the floor to the space above the entrance.
21The outer sanctuary had a rectangular doorframe, and the doorframe of the sanctuary was similar.
22There was an altar of wood three cubits high and two cubits square. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. And the man told me, “This is the table that is before the LORD.”
23Both the outer sanctuary and the inner sanctuary had double doors,
24and each door had two swinging panels. There were two panels for one door and two for the other.
25Cherubim and palm trees like those on the walls were carved on the doors of the outer sanctuary, and there was a wooden canopy outside, on the front of the portico.
26There were beveled windows and palm trees on the sidewalls of the portico. The side rooms of the temple also had canopies.
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Cherubim in Ezekiel's Vision of the Temple Ezekiel 41:18–20, 25
were alternating carved cherubim and palm trees. Each cherub had two faces: / the face of a man was toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion was toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved all the way around the temple. / Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the outer sanctuary from the floor to the space above the entrance.
Church: Holy Place Ezekiel 41:4
Then he measured the room adjacent to the inner sanctuary to be twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”
Ezekiel: Visions of of a Man with Measuring Line Ezekiel 41:1
Then the man brought me into the outer sanctuary and measured the side pillars to be six cubits wide on each side.
Gates: Double Doors Ezekiel 41:24
and each door had two swinging panels. There were two panels for one door and two for the other.
Houses: had often Several Stories Ezekiel 41:16
as well as the thresholds and the beveled windows and the galleries all around with their three levels opposite the threshold, were overlaid with wood on all sides. They were paneled from the ground to the windows, and the windows were covered.
Palm Tree in the Temple Seen in the Vision of Ezekiel Ezekiel 41:18
were alternating carved cherubim and palm trees. Each cherub had two faces:
Reed used As a Measuring Device (Six Cubits) Ezekiel 41:8
I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the full length of a rod, six long cubits.
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Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
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Ezekiel 41:1-999 Chapter 41
After the prophet had observed the courts, he was brought to the temple. If we attend to instructions in the plainer parts of religion, and profit by them, we shall be led further into an acquaintance with the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary
Historical, contextual, and verse-level study notes for deeper biblical exploration.
Ezekiel 41:1 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
tabernacle--As in the measurement of the outer porch he had pointed to Solomon's temple, so here in the edifice itself, he points to the old tabernacle, which being eight boards in breadth (each one and a half cubits broad) would make in all twelve cubits, as here. On the interior it was only ten cubits.
Ezekiel 41:2 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
length thereof--namely, of the holy place [Fairbairn].
Ezekiel 41:3 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
inward--towards the most holy place.
Ezekiel 41:4 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
thereof--of the holy of holies. before the temple--that is, before, or in front of the most holy place (so "temple" is used in 1Ki 6:3). The angel went in and measured it, while Ezekiel stood in front, in the only part of the temple accessible to him. The dimensions of the two apartments are the same as in Solomon's temple, since being fixed originally by God, they are regarded as finally determined.
Ezekiel 41:5 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
side chamber--the singular used collectively for the plural. These chambers were appendages attached to the outside of the temple, on the west, north, and south; for on the east side, the principal entrance, there were no chambers. The narrowness of the chambers was in order that the beams could be supported without needing pillars. The plan is similar to that of the hall at Koyunjik, a large central hall, called the oracle, with smaller rooms built round it.
Ezekiel 41:6 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
might ... hold, but ... not hold in ... wall of the house--1Ki 6:6 tells us there were rests made in the walls of the temple for supports to the side chambers; but the temple walls did not thereby become part of this side building; they stood separate from it. "They entered," namely, the beams of the chambers, which were three-storied and thirty in consecutive order, entered into the wall, that is, were made to lean on rests projecting from the wall.
Ezekiel 41:7 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
the breadth ... so increased from the lowest ... to the highest--that is, the breadth of the interior space above was greater than that below.
Ezekiel 41:8 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
foundations ... six ... cubits--the substructure, on which the foundations rested, was a full reed of six cubits. great--literally, "to the extremity" or root, namely, of the hand [Henderson]. "To the joining," or point, where the foundation of one chamber ceased and another began [Fairbairn].
Ezekiel 41:9 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
that which was left--There was an unoccupied place within chambers that belonged to the house. The buildings in this unoccupied place, west of the temple, and so much resembling it in size, imply that no place was to be left which was to be held, as of old, not sacred. Manasseh (2Ki 23:11) had abused these "suburbs of the temple" to keeping horses sacred to the sun. All excuse for such abominations was henceforth to be taken away, the Lord claiming every space, and filling up this also with sacred erections [Fairbairn].
Ezekiel 41:10 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
the chambers--that is, of the priests in the court: between these and the side chambers was the wideness, &c. While long details are given as to the chambers, &c., no mention is made of the ark of the covenant. Fairbairn thus interprets this: In future there was to be a perfect conformity to the divine idea, such as there had not been before. The dwellings of His people should all become true sanctuaries of piety. Jehovah Himself, in the full display of the divine Shekinah, shall come in the room of the ark of the covenant (Jer 3:16, 17). The interior of the temple stands empty, waiting for His entrance to fill it with His glory (Eze 43:1-12). It is the same temple, but the courts of it have become different to accommodate a more numerous people. The entire compass of the temple mount has become a holy of holies (Eze 43:12). 12-15. Sum of the measures of the temple, and of the buildings behind and on the side of it.
Ezekiel 41:15 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
galleries--terrace buildings. On the west or back of the temple, there was a separate place occupied by buildings of the same external dimensions as the temple, that is, one hundred cubits square in the entire compass [Fairbairn].
Ezekiel 41:16 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
covered--being the highest windows they were "covered" from the view below. Or else "covered with lattice-work."
Ezekiel 41:17 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
by measure--Measurements were taken [Fairbairn].
Ezekiel 41:21 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
appearance of the one as the appearance of the other--The appearance of the sanctuary or holy of holies was similar to that of the temple. They differed only in magnitude.
Ezekiel 41:22 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
table ... before the Lord--the altar of incense (Eze 44:16). At it, not at the table of showbread, the priests daily ministered. It stood in front of the veil, and is therefore said to be "before the Lord." It is called a table, as being that at which the Lord will take delight in His people, as at a feast. Hence its dimensions are larger than that of old--three cubits high, two broad, instead of two and one.
Ezekiel 41:25 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
thick planks--a thick-plank work at the threshold.