Ezekiel 41

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Read Ezekiel 41

41 Then the man brought me to the main hall and measured the jambs; the width of the jambs was six cubits on each side. The entrance was ten cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were five cubits wide. He also measured the main hall; it was forty cubits long and twenty cubits wide.

Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance; each was two cubits wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubits wide. And he measured the length of the inner sanctuary; it was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits across the end of the main hall. He said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”

Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits thick, and each side room around the temple was four cubits wide. The side rooms were on three levels, one above another, thirty on each level. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple. The side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor.

I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the length of the rod, six long cubits. The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick. The open area between the side rooms of the temple 10 and the priests’ rooms was twenty cubits wide all around the temple. 11 There were entrances to the side rooms from the open area, one on the north and another on the south; and the base adjoining the open area was five cubits wide all around.

12 The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side was seventy cubits wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.

13 Then he measured the temple; it was a hundred cubits long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long. 14 The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, was a hundred cubits.

15 Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries on each side; it was a hundred cubits.

The main hall, the inner sanctuary and the portico facing the court, 16 as well as the thresholds and the narrow windows and galleries around the three of them—everything beyond and including the threshold was covered with wood. The floor, the wall up to the windows, and the windows were covered.17 In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all around the inner and outer sanctuary18 were carved cherubim and palm trees. Palm trees alternated with cherubim. Each cherub had two faces: 19 the face of a human being toward the palm tree on one side and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the other. They were carved all around the whole temple. 20 From the floor to the area above the entrance, cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the main hall.

21 The main hall had a rectangular doorframe, and the one at the front of the Most Holy Place was similar. 22 There was a wooden altar three cubits high and two cubits square; its corners, its base and its sides were of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.” 23 Both the main hall and the Most Holy Place had double doors. 24 Each door had two leaves—two hinged leaves for each door. 25 And on the doors of the main hall were carved cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls, and there was a wooden overhang on the front of the portico. 26 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.

Go Deeper

Ezekiel 41 continues Ezekiel’s vision of the temple with him being guided by the bronze man into the main hall or outer sanctuary (v. 3). This is the area just outside of the inner sanctuary (or the Most Holy Place). It is noteworthy that Ezekiel accompanies the bronze man into the outer sanctuary, but only the bronze man enters into the Most Holy Place. Ezekiel, however, does not enter the Most Holy Place. The outer and inner sanctuary (Most Holy Place) were separated by large doors, but the separation of the outer and inner sanctuary is much greater than just doors.  

The outer sanctuary was the place for all priests to occupy and present sacrifices to the Lord.  The inner sanctuary was where the manifest presence of the Lord resided under the old covenant. This space was reserved for the High Priest to enter once every year to make a sacrifice for the sins of the people. The manifest presence of the Lord was so powerful in this room that if the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place at any point (other than the time ordained by the Lord), he would die. When the High Priests of the Old Testament made sacrifices for the sins of the people in the Most Holy Place, they first had to make sacrifices to cover their own sins. They could not even enter the Most Holy Place to make sacrifices for the people until they were themselves cleansed of their sins through sacrifice. They then made sacrifices for the people with the blood of goats, lambs, and cows. These sacrifices had to be repeated regularly, because they could never fully atone for the sins of the people.  

How do we reconcile the consequences of entering the Most Holy Place, into the presence of the Lord, with the truth outlined in Hebrews 4:16 that we can “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence”? Surely none of us are High Priests. The answer is Jesus.  

We can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, because we have Christ as our perfect High Priest. Jesus Christ entered into God’s presence once, presented His own perfect life as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of His people. We are able to approach the throne of God’s grace with confidence and without fear, because we are covered in blood of the perfect sacrifice, presented on our behalf by the perfect High Priest. It is truly a work of the Spirit that a seemingly mundane chapter about heights and widths can illuminate such a beautiful truth of the Gospel. 

Questions

  1. What stuck out to you on your first read through this chapter? Why? 
  2. How often do you reflect on the power of God’s presence? 
  3. What can you do today to focus your heart on the sacrifice that Christ made for you?

By the Way

Read Hebrews 9 for more detail about Christ’s priesthood and His fulfillment of the promise.

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3 thoughts on “Ezekiel 41”

  1. Details matter to God! Every single one defines a purpose designed in his heart. Details reflect the excellence and superiority of his character and point us to his holiness. What would it look like for us to pay attention to the details of our days? Colossians 3:17 instructs, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

  2. Specifics, it is all about the details, Ella. God gives us specific details for our lives today. We do not have to go into a specific building as they did but we do have a specific way God wants us to treat Him because we are His living Temple. He resides in us. If you know any anatomy then you know our bodies are so intricately amazing. God is all about the details and we skim over them or I know I always have. But they must be of importance to Him or He would not have had someone pen them. I love the details but my eyes begin to glaze over when I read it, which is very sad and I am sure is not pleasing to God. Then I pray specific prayers but His eyes do not glaze over, thankfully. He hears and loves us infinitely more than we can ever comprehend. I have been looking at Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. The entire chapter is a great reminder of living as though I have Christ in me, putting a new self with Christ as the center. There is instructions in this chapter Colossians 3 about how to live a Christian life, which is what God is showing me in Ezekiel about the temple. Specific details.

    God thank You for being so specific in all that You have done through the ages. May my eyes of understanding be open to greater knowledge of what it is You want me to see. Since, I have been raised with Christ, I am going to set my heart on things above, where Christ is, seated at Your right hand, God. God I am endeavoring to set my mind on things above, not on earthly things. For when I accepted Christ as Lord and Savior my life is now hidden with Christ in You God. I have put on my new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. God let the peace of Christ rule in my heart, since as members of one body I have been called to peace. And I am thankful. I a letting the message of Christ dwell in me as I desire to richly teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in my heart. And whatever I do, whether in word or deed, I desire to do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him in Jesus name amen.
    WOOHOO!!!!
    (Colossians 3 my paraphrase into a prayer)

  3. Diane Frances Rogers

    God’s character is Holy and accurate: correct, precise, exact, without error, specific, detailed, minute, explicit, meticulous, authoritative, reliable, factual and faithful. Hallelujah!

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