Ezekiel 40:6-16

Ezekiel recorded the measurements as the *angel measured the east gate. It was one of three gates that led into the *temple area. (That is, the ‘outer area’.)

For us today, this description is hard to understand, even in EasyEnglish. But the basic plan was this. Each gate was a large, impressive building. It included rooms for the *temple guards. It was their duty to keep the *temple *holy. People should only bring animals for *sacrifice if there was nothing wrong with the animals. Foreigners should not enter the *temple. And people should only use the *temple buildings for proper, sacred purposes.

For Ezekiel and for the *Israelites, this description would be very familiar. The design of the gates was something that he had often seen. People who study ancient cities have discovered similar gates in *Israel. Those gates were from the time of Solomon, who also built the first *temple. So it is very likely that this was the design of the original *temple gates. As a young man, Ezekiel would have often entered the *temple through those gates.

So in the *temple in Ezekiel’s *vision, the gates were the same as in the old *temple. The *Babylonians had destroyed that *temple, but God’s standards had not changed. He still wanted people to *worship him in the same manner, that is, with a humble attitude. The old *temple had not failed because of its design. There was nothing wrong with the design. It was the attitude of the people that was wrong. It was their wicked behaviour that was wrong. God had not changed. It was the people who changed. And when they opposed him, he had to declare judgement against them (18:29).

In verse 16, Ezekiel saw a familiar pattern by the doors. It was a picture of palm trees. Such patterns were in the old *temple too (1 Kings 6:29). The palm tree is a tall, strong tree. The Bible uses it as a word picture of a good person who is loyal to God (Psalms 92:12-15). It is also a tree with very plentiful fruit (Song of Solomon 7:7-8). In the Bible, fruit is often a word picture of the results when a good person works for God (Psalms 128:2-3; Galatians 5:22).

The outer area of the *temple – Ezekiel 40:17-19

v17 Then the man brought me into the outer area. There I saw rooms and a path of stones all round the area. There were 30 rooms along that path. v18 The path went past the gates. It was as thick as the gates were wide. This was the lower path. v19 Then the man measured from the outer wall to the inner wall. The outer area between these two walls was 100 *cubits. This was the same for both the east side and the north side.