Commentary - Ezekiel 41:1-2

Bird's-eye view

In these closing chapters of Ezekiel, the prophet is given a grand tour of a new temple. Now, we must have our wits about us. Dispensationalists, with their charts and timelines, want to treat this like a blueprint for a stone-and-mortar building to be erected in Jerusalem someday. But the New Testament writers have already taught us how to read our Old Testament. This temple, like the New Jerusalem in Revelation, is a symbolic vision of the Christian Church. It is the dwelling place of God, but this dwelling is made of living stones, not dead ones (1 Pet. 2:5). God is building His house, and that house is us. So when we get into the architectural details and the meticulous measurements, we are not to think of literal cubits, but rather of spiritual realities. God is describing the glory, the order, the strength, and the dimensions of the bride of Christ. This is a vision of the Church in her mature, glorified state, the fulfillment of all that the old covenant temples pointed toward.

Ezekiel is being led from the outer courts inward, moving closer to the symbolic presence of God. This chapter begins with his entrance into the nave, or the Holy Place, the main hall of the temple proper. The measurements provided are not arbitrary; they are pregnant with meaning. They describe a structure that is solid, well-proportioned, and accessible, yet clearly demarcated. This is a picture of the Church as she is constituted by the gospel. She is a fortress of truth and a place of true worship, built according to a divine pattern, not human whim. The glory of this temple is Christ, and every pillar, every doorway, every cubit speaks of Him and the people He has redeemed.

Outline

Context In Ezekiel

Ezekiel began his ministry by seeing the glory of God departing from Solomon's temple because of Israel's grotesque idolatry (Ezek. 8-11). The nation was judged, Jerusalem was sacked, and the people were sent into exile. The book is a covenant lawsuit, demonstrating God's faithfulness to His warnings. But God is not simply a God of judgment; He is a God of radical, reconstituting grace. After the pronouncements of judgment, the book turns to promises of restoration. God will give His people a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 36:26). He will raise them from the dead, as depicted in the valley of dry bones (Ezek. 37). These final chapters (40-48) are the climax of that promised restoration. The glory that departed will return to a new, more glorious temple. This is not a return to the old ways. This is a vision of the new covenant reality, which is why it has so many similarities, and yet striking differences, with the tabernacle and Solomon's temple. It is the substance of which the former temples were but shadows.

Key Issues

Commentary

Ezekiel 41:1

Then he brought me to the nave and measured the side pillars; six cubits wide on each side was the width of the side pillar.

The tour guide, this divine man with the measuring reed, brings Ezekiel into the nave, which is the hekal, the Holy Place. This is the main chamber of the temple, the place where the priests would minister daily before the Lord. In the old temple, it contained the table of showbread, the golden lampstand, and the altar of incense. In this new temple, we are being shown the Church at worship. This is the place of fellowship and service.

The first thing measured is the side pillars, or doorposts. They are six cubits wide on each side. These are massive, foundational supports for the entrance. The number six in Scripture is often associated with man, as man was created on the sixth day. These pillars represent the redeemed humanity that constitutes the Church. But this is not humanity in its weakness; this is humanity glorified and made strong in Christ. These pillars are not flimsy; they are six cubits thick, speaking of stability and strength. The Church is the pillar and buttress of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). The entrance into God's presence is solid, secure, and established upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

Ezekiel 41:2

The width of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on each side. And he measured the length of the nave, forty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits.

The entrance itself is ten cubits wide. Ten is a number of completion, of order, and of divine law, as in the Ten Commandments. This entrance is divinely ordered and complete. There is nothing lacking. Access to God is not a haphazard affair; it is according to His perfect design. The sides of the entrance, the jambs, are five cubits each. Five is often a number associated with grace. So, we have an entrance ten cubits wide, flanked by pillars of five cubits. The way into God's house is through His complete law, fulfilled by Christ, and is received by grace.

Then we get the dimensions of the nave itself: forty cubits long by twenty cubits wide. The number forty is consistently the number of testing, trial, and probation throughout the Bible. Israel wandered for forty years; Jesus was tempted for forty days. This Holy Place, this life of the Church in this age, is a place of testing and proving. We are being prepared for the glory of the Most Holy Place. The width is twenty cubits, a number that can be seen as two times ten, perhaps representing the two witnesses, or the testimony of the Church in the world, grounded in God's complete order. The proportions are harmonious (2:1 ratio), reflecting the beauty and divine order of God's household. This is not a chaotic, slapdash operation. The Church, the true temple, is built with divine precision and for a divine purpose: to be a holy habitation for God by the Spirit, throughout the age of trial, until the final consummation.

Application

We are not waiting for a temple to be built in Jerusalem. We are the temple. When we gather for worship, we are entering the Holy Place. The measurements here should give us a profound sense of the stability and grace of our position in Christ. The Church is not a fragile institution, subject to the whims of culture. Her pillars are six cubits thick. Her entrance is established by divine order and grace. Her life is a purposeful journey through trial toward glory.

This means we should take the nature of the Church and her worship with the utmost seriousness. God has a design. The measurements are precise. We are not at liberty to remodel God's house according to our own fads and fancies. We are to build on the foundation that has been laid, which is Christ. We are to live as those who have been brought into this holy place, conducting ourselves with the reverence and joy that befits the house of the living God.

Furthermore, these solid dimensions should be a great comfort to us. In a world that feels like it is constantly shifting and crumbling, the Church is a building with unshakable foundations. The pillars are measured, the entrance is secure, and the Architect is God Himself. Let us therefore live as living stones, built into this spiritual house, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.