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).
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.
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).
The temple walls were about 3.2 meters thick (10.5 feet). These thick walls showed strength and protection. At this point, the gates were replaced by a doorway. Only the priests were allowed to enter the inner court around the temple, so a heavy gate was not needed.
The sanctuary was the most important room in the new temple. For this reason, the vision describes it in greater detail than the other rooms. It also gives more exact measurements for this space.
The inner room was the Most Holy Place. It was the only square room in the temple. This room was the most sacred space in the building.
A person reached it by passing through three openings. Each opening was narrower than the one before it. Access became more limited as a person moved closer to God.
The entrance to the entry room was about 7.5 meters wide (24.5 feet; Ezekiel 40:48). The doorway into the sanctuary was about 5.3 meters wide (17.5 feet; 41:2). The entrance to the Most Holy Place was only about 3.2 meters wide (10.5 feet).
Ezekiel did not enter the Most Holy Place. He stood outside and waited while the angel went in alone and measured the room.
The temple had 90 side rooms on three levels. Behind it was a large building with an unknown purpose, possibly to prevent unauthorized access. No one could approach God's presence from behind. The side rooms might have stored priestly clothing and equipment.
The temple building was covered with wooden panels. The walls were decorated with carvings of palm trees and cherubim.
The cherubim were like those Ezekiel saw in his earlier visions of judgment (see Ezekiel 1:5–12; 10:2–14). In those visions, the cherubim had four faces. However, the carved images in the temple had only two faces. One face was a lion, the greatest of the wild animals. The other was a human, the highest part of God’s created order.
Cherubim also decorated Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6:32). Cherubim were traditional symbols of judgment. The palm trees were traditional symbols of blessing. Together, these images showed both God’s judgment and his blessing.
The only piece of furniture was a wooden altar, the table that stands in the Lord’s presence. This is likely where the priests daily placed the bread of the presence before the Lord (Exodus 25:30). Describing this table as an altar emphasizes the focus on sacrifice in Ezekiel’s temple.
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