The Divine Blueprint: The South Gate Text: Ezekiel 40:24-27
Introduction: God's Architectural Gospel
We come now to the fortieth chapter of Ezekiel, and we find ourselves in what many consider to be a strange and difficult place. For nine chapters, the prophet is given a tour of a new temple, and the man with the measuring rod is meticulous. We get dimensions of gates, courts, pillars, and chambers. To the modern evangelical mind, accustomed to a diet of spiritual abstractions and therapeutic devotionals, this can feel like reading a building code. We want soaring rhetoric about our relationship with Jesus, and God gives us the precise cubit-count of a gatepost. Why?
We must disabuse ourselves of the notion that God is somehow more present in the poetic psalms than He is in the Levitical floorplans. The God of the Bible is the God of all reality, and He is a God of order, precision, and structure. He is the great Architect. When He gives us these blueprints, He is not being tedious; He is revealing His character and His plan of redemption in the very grammar of space and structure. He is teaching us theology in stone and timber.
Ezekiel is writing to a people in exile. Their city is a ruin, and Solomon’s glorious temple is a pile of rubble. The glory of the Lord had departed. Into this despair, God gives Ezekiel a vision of a new temple, one far more glorious and immense than the last. This is not a vision that will be literally constructed by human hands after the exile. Zerubbabel's temple was a pale shadow of this. No, this is a prophetic vision of the true temple, which is the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by extension, His body, the Church. This is a postmillennial vision. It is a blueprint of the coming kingdom, which grows like a trickle of water from the temple that becomes a mighty river, healing the nations.
So as we walk with Ezekiel and the angelic surveyor, we are not just looking at an ancient building. We are looking at the gospel. Every gate is a gate of salvation. Every measurement speaks of divine perfection. Every chamber points to our place in God's house. And every palm tree carving speaks of victory and eternal life. We are being shown the structure of our salvation, the layout of the New Jerusalem, and the unshakeable order of the City of God.
The Text
Then he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate toward the south; and he measured its side pillars and its porches according to those same measurements. The gate and its porches had windows all around like those other windows; the length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits. There were seven steps going up to it, and its porches were in front of them; and it had palm tree ornaments on its side pillars, one on each side. The inner court had a gate toward the south; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, one hundred cubits.
(Ezekiel 40:24-27 LSB)
Symmetry and Salvation (v. 24)
The tour continues, moving from the north gate to the south gate.
"Then he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate toward the south; and he measured its side pillars and its porches according to those same measurements." (Ezekiel 40:24)
The first thing to strike us is the repetition. The south gate has "those same measurements" as the north gate. This is not lazy writing; it is deliberate theology. The divine blueprint is one of perfect symmetry and order. There is no arbitrary design, no chaotic asymmetry. This teaches us that God’s plan of salvation is consistent, coherent, and unchanging. The way of access to God is the same, whether you come from the north, the south, or the east.
Gates in the ancient world were places of immense significance. They were not just openings in a wall; they were centers of commerce, judgment, and community. The elders sat in the gate to render verdicts. Business was transacted there. To control the gate was to control the city. For God to give such detailed attention to the gates of His temple is to declare that He is the one who sets the terms of access. He is the one who judges, and He is the one who welcomes. Jesus picks up this theme directly when He says, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved" (John 10:9). There are not many ways into the presence of God. There is one way, with three gates, and they are all built to the same perfect, divine standard.
Windows of Grace and Divine Proportions (v. 25)
The description continues with details about the windows and the overall dimensions.
"The gate and its porches had windows all around like those other windows; the length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits." (Ezekiel 40:25 LSB)
The windows are mentioned again, "windows all around." These are not for looking out, but for letting light in. They speak of enlightenment, of revelation. The house of God is not a dark, mysterious place, but a place filled with the light of His truth. In the New Covenant, Paul tells us that God "has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). The Church, the true temple, is to be a city on a hill, its windows blazing with the light of the gospel, dispelling the darkness.
Then we have the measurements: fifty cubits by twenty-five cubits. Numbers in Scripture are not random. Fifty is the number of jubilee, of release and liberation. Every fiftieth year, debts were canceled and slaves were set free (Leviticus 25). This gate, this entrance into God's presence, is a gate of jubilee. To come to God through Christ is to be released from the debt of sin and freed from slavery to corruption. The width is twenty-five, half of fifty. This proportion, a 2:1 ratio, speaks of harmony and divine order. God's salvation is not just effective; it is beautiful and well-proportioned.
The Ascent of Sanctification and the Palms of Victory (v. 26)
Next, Ezekiel notes the approach to the gate and its decoration.
"There were seven steps going up to it, and its porches were in front of them; and it had palm tree ornaments on its side pillars, one on each side." (Ezekiel 40:26 LSB)
To enter the gate, one must ascend seven steps. Seven is the number of perfection and completion, the number of covenant. We see it in the seven days of creation, the seven feasts of Israel, the seven seals in Revelation. The approach to God is an upward call, a process of sanctification. We do not stroll into God's presence on level ground. We are called up, step by step, into greater holiness. This is not a works-based salvation; the gate of jubilee is a gift. But the Christian life is a journey of growth, an ascent. We are being "transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthians 3:18).
And what adorns the pillars of this gate? Palm tree ornaments. The palm branch in Scripture is a powerful symbol of victory, triumph, and eternal life. The righteous man is one who will "flourish like a palm tree" (Psalm 92:12). When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowds waved palm branches, hailing Him as a victorious king. In Revelation, the great multitude of the redeemed stand before the throne "with palm branches in their hands" (Revelation 7:9). To have palm trees carved on the very entrance to God's house is a declaration that to enter here is to enter into victory. This is the triumphant gate. We do not come to God as defeated beggars, but as those who are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
The Measure of Holiness (v. 27)
Finally, we are given the distance between the outer gate and the inner gate.
"The inner court had a gate toward the south; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, one hundred cubits." (Ezekiel 40:27 LSB)
Between the outer court, accessible to the people, and the inner court, for the priests, there is a space of one hundred cubits. One hundred (ten times ten) is a number that often signifies fullness or completeness. This measured distance represents a separation, a distinction. It speaks of the holiness of God. While the way to God is open through the gate of Christ, we must never approach Him with flippant presumption. There is a space of reverence, a recognition of the infinite distance between the holy God and sinful man, a distance bridged only by the blood of the covenant.
This also shows us the progression of the Christian life. We enter the outer courts through faith in Christ. But there is an inner court, a deeper walk, a closer communion. The author of Hebrews exhorts us to "draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:22). God calls us from the outer court, across that measured space of consecration, into the inner court of priestly service and intimate fellowship.
Conclusion: Entering the Victorious Gate
So what do we do with the blueprint of a gate? We are to walk through it. This entire vision is an invitation. It is a gospel call, articulated in the language of architecture.
God is telling His exiled people, and He is telling us, that there is a way back into His presence. That way is through a gate of perfect, symmetrical design, meaning it is the same for all. It is a gate of jubilee, offering freedom from our debts and slavery. It is a gate of light, dispelling our darkness and ignorance. It is a gate that requires an ascent of seven steps, a call to a life of covenant faithfulness and sanctification. It is a gate of victory, adorned with the palms of triumph that Christ has won for us. And it leads into a spacious court, a place of reverence and holiness, from which we are called to draw nearer still.
This gate is Jesus Christ. He is the divine blueprint made flesh. He is the perfect measurement, the light of the world, our jubilee, our victory. The entire temple, with all its glorious and precise detail, is a portrait of Him. And the Church, His body, is being built according to this same plan, a spiritual house, a holy temple in the Lord. We are being fitted together, measured by His standard, called to ascend in holiness, and adorned with the victory He has accomplished. Let us, therefore, approach with confidence, enter His gates with thanksgiving, and go up to the house of the Lord.