Eze 42:15-20 | KingComments | STEP | When the measuring of the interior of the house, that is, the holy place and the most holy place and what belongs to them, is completed, the Man brings Ezekiel back to the starting point of the tour ( ; ). They go out the east gate. Then the Man goes to measure an area to the four sides of the temple ( ). To each side He measures five hundred reeds, which is over a kilometer and a half. This creates a kind of third court, as it were. In it says as a summary that of the temple grounds the four sides – literally the four winds, that is, the four directions of the wind – are measured. This completes the description of the temple grounds. Everything that can be measured has been measured. The wall mentioned in is the wall where the Man began to measure ( ). We are back to the beginning. The wall is mentioned again to point out its function: it serves to distinguish between the holy and the profane. The detailed description of this perfect temple underscores the importance of this sanctified building for the exiles. Through the temple, God’s presence in the world becomes, as it were, tangible. Everything about the temple – the perfect proportions of all the parts in relation to each other, the decorations, the lofty building – is impressive. Yet, like the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37), there is no life in the buildings without the presence of the LORD. The house waits for its Occupant. In the next chapter, He comes.

‏ Ezekiel 42:15-20

The Holy Area Around the Temple Grounds

When the measuring of the interior of the house, that is, the holy place and the most holy place and what belongs to them, is completed, the Man brings Ezekiel back to the starting point of the tour (Eze 42:15; Eze 40:5). They go out the east gate. Then the Man goes to measure an area to the four sides of the temple (Eze 42:16-19). To each side He measures five hundred reeds, which is over a kilometer and a half. This creates a kind of third court, as it were.

In Eze 42:20a it says as a summary that of the temple grounds the four sides – literally the four winds, that is, the four directions of the wind – are measured. This completes the description of the temple grounds. Everything that can be measured has been measured.

The wall mentioned in Eze 42:20b is the wall where the Man began to measure (Eze 40:5). We are back to the beginning. The wall is mentioned again to point out its function: it serves to distinguish between the holy and the profane.

The detailed description of this perfect temple underscores the importance of this sanctified building for the exiles. Through the temple, God’s presence in the world becomes, as it were, tangible. Everything about the temple – the perfect proportions of all the parts in relation to each other, the decorations, the lofty building – is impressive. Yet, like the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37), there is no life in the buildings without the presence of the LORD. The house waits for its Occupant. In the next chapter, He comes.