Ezekiel41
New Living Translation
1After that, the man brought me into the sanctuary of the Temple. He measured the walls on either side of its doorway, and they were 10 1⁄2 feet thick.
2The doorway was 17 1⁄2 feet wide, and the walls on each side of it were 8 3⁄4 feet long. The sanctuary itself was 70 feet long and 35 feet wide.
3Then he went beyond the sanctuary into the inner room. He measured the walls on either side of its entrance, and they were 3 1⁄2 feet thick. The entrance was 10 1⁄2 feet wide, and the walls on each side of the entrance were 12 1⁄4 feet long.
4The inner room of the sanctuary was 35 feet long and 35 feet wide. “This,” he told me, “is the Most Holy Place.”
5Then he measured the wall of the Temple, and it was 10 1⁄2 feet thick. There was a row of rooms along the outside wall; each room was 7 feet wide.
6These side rooms were built in three levels, one above the other, with thirty rooms on each level. The supports for these side rooms rested on exterior ledges on the Temple wall; they did not extend into the wall.
7Each level was wider than the one below it, corresponding to the narrowing of the Temple wall as it rose higher. A stairway led up from the bottom level through the middle level to the top level.
8I saw that the Temple was built on a terrace, which provided a foundation for the side rooms. This terrace was 10 1⁄2 feet high.
9The outer wall of the Temple’s side rooms was 8 3⁄4 feet thick. This left an open area between these side rooms
10and the row of rooms along the outer wall of the inner courtyard. This open area was 35 feet wide, and it went all the way around the Temple.
11Two doors opened from the side rooms into the terrace yard, which was 8 3⁄4 feet wide. One door faced north and the other south.
12A large building stood on the west, facing the Temple courtyard. It was 122 1⁄2 feet wide and 157 1⁄2 feet long, and its walls were 8 3⁄4 feet thick.
13Then the man measured the Temple, and it was 175 feet long. The courtyard around the building, including its walls, was an additional 175 feet in length.
14The inner courtyard to the east of the Temple was also 175 feet wide.
15The building to the west, including its two walls, was also 175 feet wide. The sanctuary, the inner room, and the entry room of the Temple
16were all paneled with wood, as were the frames of the recessed windows. The inner walls of the Temple were paneled with wood above and below the windows.
17The space above the door leading into the inner room, and its walls inside and out, were also paneled.
18All the walls were decorated with carvings of cherubim, each with two faces, and there was a carving of a palm tree between each of the cherubim.
19One face—that of a man—looked toward the palm tree on one side. The other face—that of a young lion—looked toward the palm tree on the other side. The figures were carved all along the inside of the Temple,
20from the floor to the top of the walls, including the outer wall of the sanctuary.
21There were square columns at the entrance to the sanctuary, and the ones at the entrance of the Most Holy Place were similar.
22There was an altar made of wood, 5 1⁄4 feet high and 3 1⁄2 feet across. Its corners, base, and sides were all made of wood. “This,” the man told me, “is the table that stands in the Lord’s presence.”
23Both the sanctuary and the Most Holy Place had double doorways,
24each with two swinging doors.
25The doors leading into the sanctuary were decorated with carved cherubim and palm trees, just as on the walls. And there was a wooden roof at the front of the entry room to the Temple.
26On both sides of the entry room were recessed windows decorated with carved palm trees. The side rooms along the outside wall also had roofs.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 41.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The Vision of the Temple. (1-26).
vv1-26
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.
Key Words
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
הֵיכָל: a large public building, such as a palace or temple
מָדַד: properly, to stretch; by implication, to measure (as if by stretching a line); figuratively, to be extended
אַיִל: properly, strength; hence, anything strong; specifically a chief (politically); also a ram (from his strength); a pilaster (as a strong support); an oak or other strong tree
פֹּה: this place (French ici), i.e. here or hence
שֵׁשׁ: six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand); as ord. sixth
אַמָּה: properly, a mother (i.e. unit of measure, or the fore-arm (below the elbow), i.e. a cubit; also a door-base (as a bond of the entrance)
רֹחַב: width (literally or figuratively)
אֹהֶל: a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)
פֶּתַח: an opening (literally), i.e. door (gate) or entrance way
Cross References
Ezekiel 41The dimensions of the temple house correspond directly with Solomon's temple measurements.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The Holy of Holies is a perfect square of twenty cubits, as in Solomon's temple.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Matches the structural design of side chambers resting on ledges without entering the main temple wall.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Describes the winding stairs or passages ascending upward through the stories of side chambers.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The measuring reed of six great cubits defines the foundations of the side chambers.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Carvings of cherubim and palm trees decorated the walls and doors of Solomon's temple.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Identifies the wooden altar as the table where priests minister directly before the Lord.
Supported by JFB
The dimensions of the wooden altar of incense are compared with the tabernacle's golden altar.
Supported by JFB
Establishes the boundary dividing the holy place from the most holy place in the tabernacle.
Solomon built side chambers against the walls of the temple round about both sanctuary and oracle.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Explains how the upper chambers were wider as the walls of the house receded.
The two faces of the cherubim (man and lion) link back to the four-faced living creatures.
The squared posts of the temple entrance parallel the square posts in Solomon's temple.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The theological significance of the Holy of Holies and access into the divine presence.
The narrow windows and palm tree decorations echo the design elements of the outer gates.
Solomon's temple likewise featured narrow, latticed windows for light and ventilation.
The altar is functionally called the 'table of the Lord' in sacrificial vocabulary.
The two folding leaves for each of the two doors matches the entrance pattern.