This chapter is a continuation of the previous one. In Ezekiel 40:48-41:26, we read about the temple. house, with porch, side stories, and back buildings. When reading this vision of a rebuilt temple, we should keep in mind that a permanent temple for Israel was not in the original plan of God.
When Israel was still at the foot of Mount Sinai, God, through Moses, gave instructions to Israel to build a tabernacle or tent. The instructions were given in detail so that Israel could rebuild the tabernacle throughout their years in the land of promise.
The tabernacle represented the presence of God among the people, and before it, they were to assemble yearly. The tabernacle was to be moved among the people in order that no tribe be marginalised for the annual sacrifice during the day of atonement.
However, when David became king, God gave him a concession to build a permanent structure to house the ark of the covenant. David was not allowed to build the temple, but Solomon, his son, did, 1 Kings 6-7.
Solomon’s temple, therefore, marginalised the tribes to the north in Palestine, and thus, after Solomon’s death, Jeroboam built two altars, one in Bethel and the other in Dan, 1 Kings 12:29.
In 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Solomon’s temple. In the return of the remnant, God knew that the remnant would remain small in the land, and thus the rebuilding of the temple that is described in these chapters would suffice in providing a location to which the returned exiles could go for the annual sacrifices, Deuteronomy 12:21.
Ezekiel is now taken to the main hall, this is the holy place, where the man measures the jambs, the measure eleven feet wide on each side, Ezekiel 41:1. The entrance measured eighteen feet wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were eight and three-quarters feet wide, Ezekiel 41:2. The main hall measured seventy feet long and thirty-five feet wide, Ezekiel 41:2.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The measurements are exactly the same as those of Solomon’s temple, 1 Kings 6:2 / 1 Kings 6:17.’
The man goes into the inner sanctuary, this is the most holy place and measures the jambs of the entrance, that measure, three and a half feet wide, Ezekiel 41:3. The entrance was eleven feet wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were twelve feet wide measured seventy feet long and thirty-five feet wide, Ezekiel 41:4. The man tells Ezekiel that this is the Most Holy Place, Ezekiel 41:4.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The effect of the progressively narrower doorways, from 14 cubits (23 feet 4 inches, Ezekiel 40:48) to 10 cubits (16 feet 8 inches, Ezekiel 41:2) to six cubits (10 feet, Ezekiel 41:3), focused the worshipper’s eyes on the most holy place, the centre of worship, and communicated increasing restriction, controlled access.’
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This also was the exact measurement of Solomon’s temple, 1 Kings 6:20.’
Next to be measured was the temple wall, which measured eleven feet thick, and the side room around the temple, measuring seven feet wide, Ezekiel 41:5. There appear to be three stories of these rooms, thirty rooms on each level, giving us a total of ninety rooms, Ezekiel 41:6. There also appear to be ledges which acted as supports for the side rooms, Ezekiel 41:6.
The rooms on the upper floor appear to be the largest, and the rooms on the second floor were not as large, and the rooms on the first floor were the smallest, Ezekiel 41:7. The different sizes can probably be explained by the stairway going through each level, Ezekiel 41:7.
Ezekiel notices that the temple had a raised base all around it; it’s standing on the same foundation as the rest of the temple, forming the foundation of the side rooms, and it measured the length of a rod, eleven feet, Ezekiel 41:8.
The outer wall of the side rooms measured eight and three-quarter feet thick, Ezekiel 41:9. The open area between the side rooms of the temple, and the priests’ rooms, was thirty-five feet wide all around the temple, Ezekiel 41:9-10.
Wright, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The description of the side rooms, Ezekiel 41:5-11, is difficult to follow. They were probably used to store gifts and tithes and various temple vessels, Nehemiah 13:5 / Nehemiah 13:9 / Nehemiah 13:12.’
There were entrances to the side rooms from the open area, one on the north and another on the south, Ezekiel 41:11. The base adjoining the open area measured eight and three-quarters feet wide all around, Ezekiel 41:11 / Ezekiel 48:35. The open area was on the same level as the top of the foundation of the temple.
The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side measured one hundred and twenty feet wide. The wall of the building measured eight and three-quarters feet thick all around, and measured one hundred and fifty-eight feet long, Ezekiel 41:12 / Ezekiel 48:35.
The man now measures the temple; it measured one hundred and seventy-five feet long, Ezekiel 41:13. The temple courtyard and the building with its walls also measured one hundred and seventy-five feet long, Ezekiel 41:13 / Ezekiel 48:35.
The temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, also measured one hundred and seventy-five feet wide, Ezekiel 41:14 / Ezekiel 48:35. The building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries on each side, also measured one hundred and seventy-five feet long, Ezekiel 41:15.
The interior of the temple, including the inner sanctuary, the portico, the thresholds, the windows, galleries, floor and the wall, was all covered in wood, Ezekiel 41:15-16.
In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary and on the walls all around the inner and outer sanctuaries were carved cherubim, which are usually depicted as guarding God’s holiness, Genesis 3:22-24 / Exodus 25:18-22 / Exodus 26:31, and palm trees, Ezekiel 41:17-18. The wood was carved with alternating cherubs and palm trees, Ezekiel 41:18.
Notice each cherub had two faces, the face of a human and the face of a lion, one looking left and the other right, Ezekiel 41:19 / Ezekiel 1:5-25 / Ezekiel 10:9-17 / Revelation 4:7.
They were carved all around the whole temple, Ezekiel 41:19. Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the main hall from the floor to the area above the entrance, Ezekiel 41:20 / 1 Kings 6:2.
Block, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In these figures aspirations of life and prosperity (palm) and security (cherubim) coalesce. In Israelite thought, the divine resident of this house was the source of both.’
The main hall had a rectangular doorframe, and the one at the front of the Most Holy Place were similar, Ezekiel 41:21. There was a wooden altar which measured, five and a quarter foot high, and three and a half feet square and its corners, base and sides were made of wood, Ezekiel 41:22. The man tells Ezekiel that this is the table that is before the LORD, Ezekiel 41:22.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This was the altar of incense and was covered with plates of gold.’
Feinberg, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The altar of Ezekiel 41:22 was not the altar of sacrifice, nor the table of shewbread, but the altar of incense before the Lord, Exodus 30:1-3 / 1 Kings 7:48. It has been suggested that it was an altar-like table, Ezekiel 44:16.’
The main hall and the Most Holy Place had double doors, Ezekiel 41:23. Both doors had two leaves—two hinged leaves for each door, Ezekiel 41:24. The doors of the main hall were decorated with cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls, Ezekiel 41:25 / Ezekiel 41:20.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The wood, or planks, were thick and strong; for the cherubim and palm trees were carved in relief, out of their substance, and unless they had been of considerable thickness, this could not have been done.’
There was a wooden overhang on the front of the portico, Ezekiel 41:25. On the sidewalls of the portico were narrow windows with palm trees carved on each side. The side rooms of the temple also had overhangs, Ezekiel 41:26 / Ezekiel 41:20.
The dimensions of the temple were different from those of Solomon’s temple. This temple would exist until Herod the Great, who would later build what was referred to as Herod’s Temple. This temple would be destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70 and would never be rebuilt again.
Because of Ezekiel’s use of the word ‘forever,’ it may be that these instructions concerning the restoration of the sacrifices and rebuilding of the temple were symbolic of the spiritual temple of God, the church, which would come a little over four hundred years after the last return of the captives to Palestine.
At least we know that when Jesus came, no emphasis was placed on a continuation of the temple, for true worship would take place anywhere in the world, regardless of any physical structures, John 4:23-24. In fact, Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple structure that stood at the time of His ministry, Matthew 24.
One of the great lessons that the Jews learned while in exile was that they could worship God without the presence of a temple structure. When they returned to rebuild the temple, therefore, they rebuilt it in order to unite the people around the sacrifices that were to be continued until the coming of the final sacrifice of the Son of God.
While in captivity, it is believed that the Jews developed the idea of the synagogue. It is difficult to determine the origins of the synagogue, for the structure and function of the synagogue are found nowhere in the Old Testament.
The Jews in captivity possibly built the synagogues for the purpose of solidifying their religious identity and culture throughout the world where they had been scattered.
The concept of the synagogue thus came with the returnees in view of the fact that the rebuilt temple still marginalised those in Palestine who were too far from the temple, Deuteronomy 12:21.
Instead of a restoration of the mobile tabernacle, the Jews built synagogues throughout Palestine. Since they had built synagogues throughout the land of their captivity, the synagogue became a customary cultural and religious centre of Israel.
Every region, therefore, had a synagogue where sacrifices and teaching could take place. The synagogue thus became an opportunity for world evangelism in the early days of the church, Acts 17:2.