Study notes
The prophet’s tour of the new temple began outside the building. He then moved step by step toward its center.
After reaching the inside, he walked outward again. The tour ended at the kitchens located in the corners of the outer courtyard (Ezekiel 46:19–24).
The final section of the book of Ezekiel describes a new temple and a new division of the land.
First, Ezekiel describes the new temple (Ezekiel 40:1–47:12; see “Temple Architecture as Theology” Theme Note; “Temple Legislation as Theology” Theme Note). This vision includes detailed plans for the building and its rules. It also shows how the temple’s design and laws teach about God.
Next, Ezekiel describes how the land will be divided among the tribes of Israel (Ezekiel 47:13–48:35; see “Israel’s Geography as Theology” Theme Note). This section shows that even the geography (the way the land is arranged) has meaning.
The temple stands at the center of the land. This central place shows that God himself is at the center of his people. The temple is the final and most important part of God’s plan to restore (bring back and renew) and sanctify (make holy) his people. God promises that he will once again live among them (see Ezekiel 37:28).
Ezekiel saw this temple in a vision. However, the people of Israel never built this exact temple in history.
Ezekiel’s last vision took place after he had been in Babylon for almost 25 years. This vision included everything that Ezekiel recorded through to the end of chapter 48.
Jerusalem had already been destroyed and the temple had been burnt down. The vision was about the city and the temple being made new again. Then the world around them would be made new. In this way the vision was like the story of the dry bones in chapter 37. In that story God’s people were dead. He gave them new life by putting his Spirit in them. In this vision God gave new life to Jerusalem and the temple. Then new life spread to the world from there. New life came because God’s glory returned to the temple. This meant that God ruled from there as the only God and King. God called the temple his throne and promised to live there for ever.
Ezekiel carefully recorded how long, wide and high many parts of the temple were. He described the nation’s borders. He described how much land went to each of the 12 tribes of Israel. He carefully recorded rules for sacrifices and feasts and taking care of the temple. He described the rules for priests and princes.
These careful records didn’t describe the temple rebuilt by Joshua and Zerubbabel. They didn’t describe the temple built by Herod the Great. They didn’t describe the land and people after the exile. These careful records were signs. They were signs of what God expected from his people. God expected his people to treat his name as holy. This meant that they would worship only him and obey him completely. This would allow them to fully be his people. It would allow him to fully be their God. This is what God had always wanted and why he made covenants with them.
Ezekiel’s careful records were also signs of what God planned to do on earth. He planned to do what he had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He would use their family line to bless all nations on earth.
In the vision, all 12 tribes of Israel received land. So did outsiders who had joined them. All together they were a sign of all people who were committed to God. In the vision a river flowed from the temple down to the Dead Sea. Ezekiel knew that this area was a desert and no creatures lived in the Dead Sea. But the river turned it into an area like a garden. There were many fish and creatures and many fruit trees. The trees provided fruit for food and leaves for healing people’s bodies. They brought life and were like the tree of life. The river flowed out from Jerusalem. The water of this river brought life. It was living water.
The flowing river was like something that Isaiah described. Isaiah said that God’s message would go out from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3). This message was knowledge about who God is and how he wants people to live. It went out from Jerusalem as God’s people spread the message. They spread it by living as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Isaiah’s prophecies talked about people from all nations learning this message. The river in Ezekiel’s vision was a sign of this message. It was a sign of the blessing and life that come from knowing God. The blessing and life were for all nations. Blessing and life flowed out from Jerusalem because God was present there.
The Lord is there was the name for the new city of Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s vision. Hundreds of years later John’s visions recorded in Revelation 21–22 were like Ezekiel’s vision. They showed when Ezekiel’s vision would come true. This would be when God created a new heaven and new earth in the new creation.
a very high mountain: In the Old Testament, God often revealed himself on mountaintops. Moses received God's law and the design for the tabernacle at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19–40). He also viewed the promised land, which he would never enter, from the top of Pisgah (Deuteronomy 34:1–4). Similarly, on this mountaintop, Ezekiel met with God and saw the wonderful future God had prepared for his people, even though he would not live to experience it.
a man whose appearance was like bronze: An angelic guide would lead Ezekiel's tour of the temple. The bronze color reminds us of the heavenly creatures described in the first vision (see Ezekiel 1:7).
Unlike the guide for his earlier vision of the earthly temple in Ezekiel 8–11, this guide carried only a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod. These are tools for building, not destroying.
Measurement is a key theme in the following chapters. It allows the prophet to emphasize the importance of certain parts of the temple by making them larger and more precisely defined than other parts.
a wall surrounding the temple area: Walls create and define space, marking an "inside" and an "outside." This wall was important. Its function was to separate the "profane" [unholy] area outside the temple from the holy area inside. This ensured the important distinction would never again be forgotten (see Ezekiel 22:26).
The exact architectural details of the temple are difficult to translate. Some of the building terms are hard to understand in every language. However, the overall impression of these gates is clear.
The gates looked like fortresses (strong buildings used for defense). They were built to keep out people who did not have permission to enter. These gates protected the holy space of the temple.
The eastern gateway is described first because it was the most important. It stood on the sacred east–west line (a straight line from east to west) on which the whole temple was built. This gateway is also important because the glory of the Lord (God’s visible and powerful presence) would return through it (Ezekiel 43:1–5).
Six guard alcoves (small rooms for guards) lined the inside of each gate. There were three on each side. This design shows that the gates had a defensive purpose.
The layout of these gates was similar to gates found at Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. Archaeologists have uncovered gates like these in those cities. However, the temple gates in Ezekiel’s vision were much larger than the ones found there.
The carved palm trees remind readers of the rich plant life of the garden of Eden. Palm trees were a sign of life and fruitfulness (that is, the ability to grow and produce food). Similar carvings appear in the temple described in 1 Kings 6:29.
The outer courtyard formed a buffer zone (a space that protects another space) around the holy things in the inner courtyard. This open area separated common space from the most sacred space. In this way, it helped guard what was holy.
Thirty rooms were built along the walls of the outer courtyard. The text does not clearly state the purpose of these rooms. It also does not give their exact measurements. This lack of detail increases the contrast between the less important outer area and the central holy space, which receives much more attention.
These rooms were most likely used by the Levites. The Levites were members of the tribe of Levi who served in temple worship. They probably used these rooms for different tasks related to their service.
The north gateway and the south gateway are described in similar ways to the east gateway. However, the description gives fewer details than it does for the east gateway. Even so, these gates were strong and impressive structures.
Like the east gateway, they served as a powerful defensive barrier. They were meant to prevent any defilement (anything unclean or impure) from entering the sacred area.
There was no west gateway to either the outer court or the inner court. The area behind the main temple building was closed off. This design prevented anyone from entering the temple area from the rear.
Steps led up to each gate. These steps made the gates feel less accessible. A person had to go up in order to enter the sacred area.
The inner parts of the temple were higher than the outer parts. The more sacred the space, the higher it stood. This difference in height created another level of separation between common space and holy space.
In this way, the design of the temple showed that not every place was the same. Some areas were set apart as more sacred than others.
The inner courtyard was divided from the outer courtyard by another set of large gateways. These gateways were similar in size and purpose to those of the outer courtyard. The entry rooms of these gateways faced outward toward the outer courtyard, unlike the outer gates, where they faced inward.
The text does not mention a wall around the inner courtyard. This may be because the inner court stood higher than the outer court. It was raised by another eight steps, which may have been about 2.4 meters (about 8 feet) high.
If there were no wall, there may have been a free-standing archway (an open structure shaped like an arch). This design would allow people to see what was happening inside. At the same time, the height would prevent anyone from stepping into the sacred area by accident.
Another possibility is that the text simply does not mention the wall. The writer may have left out that detail, even if a wall was present.
The sacrificial animals were killed and prepared in rooms beside the gateways that led into the inner courtyard. This detail shows the main purpose of the new temple. It was a place for sacrifice.
The animals had to be washed and cut into pieces before the priests offered them on the altar. These steps prepared the animals for worship.
In Ezekiel’s vision, this new temple strongly focuses on sacrifices that atoned for sin. These sacrifices dealt with sin and restored the relationship between God and humanity that sin had broken. By contrast, the temple in Jerusalem was both a place for sacrifice and a house of prayer (see 1 Kings 8:27–30, 52–53; Isaiah 56:6–8; Matthew 21:13).
The hooks might be used to store the knives and tools mentioned in Ezekiel 40:42.
The Lord finally rewarded Zadok's loyalty (see Ezekiel 44:15). He decreed that only Zadok's descendants could approach the Lord to serve him. Only those chosen by the Lord and fit to enter the holy space could access God in this temple.
The themes of sacrifice and limited access come together in the description of the inner courtyard's size. It was a perfect square, a common shape for holy spaces in the Old Testament (see Exodus 26:1–35; 1 Kings 6:20), measuring 175 feet on each side. At its center stood the altar of sacrifice, the only piece of furniture there. People had to offer holy sacrifices without risking impurity to ensure the Lord's presence when he returned to fill the temple with his glory.
The temple stood at the protected center of the temple complex. It was next to the inner court. This location showed its importance.
The temple also stood at the highest point in the complex. It was ten steps higher than the inner court. The inner court itself was eight steps higher than the outer court. This rising height showed increasing holiness as a person moved inward.
Like Solomon’s temple before it, this temple had three main areas. These were:
the entry room,
the sanctuary (the main holy room), and
the Most Holy Place (the most sacred room).
Outside the entry room were square columns with an unknown purpose, similar to those in Solomon's temple (1 Kings 7:15–22).
Verse notes: Adapted by Mission Mutual (Aquifer Open Study Notes) from Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. CC BY-SA 4.0. Section notes: Biblica Study Notes © 2023 Biblica, Inc. CC BY-SA 4.0, via BibleAquifer. About the sources