Eze 48:30-31 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Ezek 48:30-31: 48:30-31 At the end of the book, Ezekiel focuses attention on the exits to the city , highlighting once again the theme of access that runs throughout chs 40–48 . Like the Temple, the city was a measured square with twelve gates, one for each of the tribes, which established a focus of tribal unity. Unusually, the three most important gates, named for Reuben (the oldest of the sons of Israel), Judah (the royal tribe), and Levi (the priestly tribe), faced north rather than east. This is because the most important direction was northward toward the Temple, the center of the renewed land. South was the second most important side because it was on the axis that pointed toward the Temple.

a48:30-31►

b40–48►

‏ Ezekiel 48:30-31

Summary for Ezek 48:30-31: 48:30-31 ^a At the end of the book, Ezekiel focuses attention on the exits to the city, highlighting once again the theme of access that runs throughout chs 40–48 ^b. Like the Temple, the city was a measured square with twelve gates, one for each of the tribes, which established a focus of tribal unity. Unusually, the three most important gates, named for Reuben (the oldest of the sons of Israel), Judah (the royal tribe), and Levi (the priestly tribe), faced north rather than east. This is because the most important direction was northward toward the Temple, the center of the renewed land. South was the second most important side because it was on the axis that pointed toward the Temple.