And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he
measured the south gate according to these measures; And the little
chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof,
according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in the
arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and
twenty cubits broad. And the arches round about were five and twenty
cubits long, and five cubits broad. And the arches thereof were
toward the outer court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof:
and the going up to it had eight steps. And he brought me into the
inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to
these measures. And the little chambers thereof, and the posts
thereof, and the arches thereof, were according to these measures:
and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round
about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
And the arches thereof were toward the outward court; and palm trees
were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the
going up to it had eight steps. And he brought me to the north gate,
and measured it according to these measures; The little chambers
thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, and the windows
to it round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five
and twenty cubits. And the posts thereof were toward the outer
court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and
on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps. And the
chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the gates,
where they washed the burnt offering. And in the porch of the gate
were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay
thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass
offering. And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of
the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at
the porch of the gate, were two tables. Four tables were on this
side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight
tables, whereupon they slew their sacrifices. And the four tables
were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and an half
long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high: whereupon
also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt
offering and the sacrifice. And within were hooks, an hand broad,
fastened round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the
offering. And without the inner gate were the chambers of the
singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate;
and their prospect was toward the south: one at the side of the east
gate having the prospect toward the north. And he said unto me, This
chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the
keepers of the charge of the house. And the chamber, whose prospect
is toward the north, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge
of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi,
which come near to the Lord to minister unto him. So he measured the
court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad,
foursquare; and the altar that was before the house (verses 28-47).
The first two verses give the measurement of the Holy part. Of the
contents of this part, how it was furnished, nothing is said; only the
measurement is mentioned. The place is forty cubits long and twenty
cubits broad. In this respect it corresponds to the temple of Solomon in
which the Holy place had the same dimensions, while the same part in the
wilderness tabernacle was only twenty cubits by ten cubits. We find
therefore that the Holy part in the temple of Solomon and Ezekiel's
temple is double the size of the Holy part of the tabernacle. There is a
door which leads from the vestibule into this Holy place and at both
sides are door posts, six cubits broad on the one side and six on the
other; between these two posts is the door, the breadth of which is ten
cubits.[40] The number twelve is again in evidence in these two posts,
twice six. Inasmuch as the wall (verse 5) is six cubits thick these two
posts are probably a part of the wall surrounding the temple. Later we
receive the additional information that the waters issued from under the
threshold of the house eastward, the seer being at this door (xlvii:1).
[40] The words "which was the breadth of the tabernacle" are by some
declared doubtful. The Septuagint has omitted them.
Then the man went inward, into the Most Holy. This was a perfect square
twenty cubits long and twenty broad. Let us notice that the prophet here
does not enter the place, for it is the Most Holy, the dwelling place of
Jehovah.
The man entered in alone, while the prophet remained outside. There was
a door six cubits high and seven cubits broad. The breadth of the door
leading into the Holy part was ten cubits, but the door leading into the
Most Holy was seven cubits broad, the number which denotes divine
perfection. The description of the interior of the temple is given in
verses 15-26.