He measured the north side, five hundred reeds ,.... From the two angles of that side, east and west; and it was of the same dimension as the east side, just five hundred reeds, or one thousand seven hundred and fifty yards: with a measuring reed round about ; he measured with the same reed, from point to point; and having measured this side, he went to another. read more
He measured the east - north - south - west side - Each of which was five hundred reeds: and, as the building was square, the area must have been nearly thirteen thousand paces. No wonder this was called a city. See Ezekiel 40:2 . read more
The symmetry of the sanctuary. The measurements which are in this part of Ezekiel's prophecies given with such abundance and such minuteness are intended primarily to convey the impression that the temple which was seen in vision was a building of perfect beauty, harmony, and completeness. But the material building was a figure of a spiritual edifice, and the material qualities ascribed to it were significant of moral attributes of the profoundest interest. And the structure, made without... read more
The temple precincts . The seer's guide, having completed his measurement of the house with its courts, proceeds to measure its encompassing wall, for this purpose conducting the prophet out by the east gate, and measuring, first the east, next the north, thirdly the south, and lastly the west wall, each five hundred reeds in length, or three thousand cubits, so that the entire area of the quadrangle amounted to 3000 x 3000 = 9,000,000 square cubits, equivalent to 2,250,000 square yards. read more
The size and strength of the kingdom. "The particularity with which these measurements are given shows the importance attached by the prophet to the external dimensions … The compass assigned to the sacred buildings exceeded the limits of all ancient Jerusalem … Here is another of those traits intended to render manifest the ideal character of the whole description" (Fairbairn). The fulfillment is found in the glorious magnitude of the Church of Christ, of which the temple was designed to... read more
The Precincts. The temple and its courts were surrounded by an area of exact dimensions 3,000 cubits (1,500 yards) square. See Plan IV.Ezekiel 42:15The inner house - The temple and its courts, all that lay within the “wall on the outside of the house Ezekiel 40:5; the gate” is the eastern gate of the outer court.Measured it round about - The precincts, into which he had brought the seer through the eastern gate of the outer court. read more
The priests’ rooms (42:1-20)Ezekiel now gives further details concerning the rooms for the priests located in the inner court (see 40:44-47). There were two priests’ buildings, one on the north side of the temple proper, the other on the south.First the building on the north side is described. It was three storeys high and divided lengthways by a passage. On the temple yard side of this passage were three storeys consisting of one long narrow room on each storey. On the outer court side were... read more
2. The millennial temple 40:5-42:20Earlier Ezekiel hinted that there would be a future temple in the restored Promised Land (Ezekiel 20:40; Ezekiel 37:24-28). Now he described it in considerable detail. [Note: See also the drawings in Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, pp. 231, 233, 234, 258, 282, and 283; and in Block, The Book . . . 48, pp. 508, 509, 520, 541, 550, 565, 572, 573, 598, 603, 711, and 733.] Some of the detail is here to help the reader understand what the writer recorded later about what... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 42:15-20
We have attended the measuring of this mystical temple and are now to see how far the holy ground on which we tread extends; and that also is here measured, and found to take in a great compass. Observe, 1. What the dimensions of it were. It extended each way 500 reeds (Ezek. 42:16-19), each reed above three yards and a half, so that it reached every way about an English measured mile, which, the ground lying square, was above four miles round. Thus large were the suburbs (as I may call them)... read more