The Divine Symmetry of the Church: Text: Ezekiel 42:10-12
Introduction: God the Architect
We live in an age that despises blueprints. Our generation celebrates chaos as though it were a virtue. We are told to "find our own truth," which is another way of saying that every man should be his own sloppy, self-contradictory architect. The result is all around us, in our politics, in our families, and tragically, in many of our churches. We have buildings with no foundations, communities with no standards, and worship that is formless and void. We have embraced an aesthetic of rebellion, a liturgy of ugliness, and a theology of "whatever."
Into this ramshackle, dilapidated cultural moment, the Word of God speaks with the clean, sharp lines of a divine blueprint. The book of Ezekiel, particularly these latter chapters, can be difficult for modern readers. We are given meticulous, painstaking details about a temple. We read of gates, chambers, walls, and measurements down to the last cubit. The temptation is to let our eyes glaze over, to dismiss it as arcane architectural jargon for a building that was never even built. But to do this is to miss the point entirely. It is to mistake the blueprint for a doodle.
We must first understand what this temple is. This is not a prophecy that the Jews will one day rebuild a stone temple in Jerusalem, complete with animal sacrifices. The book of Hebrews tells us that the old way is obsolete, a shadow that has been displaced by the substance, who is Christ. No, the New Testament interprets Ezekiel for us. This glorious, detailed, and massive temple that Ezekiel sees is the Christian Church. It is the New Jerusalem that John sees in Revelation, which is the Bride, the Lamb's wife (Rev. 21:9-10). It is the spiritual house being built up of living stones, with Christ as the chief cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:5). God is not giving Ezekiel a construction plan for Herod to follow; He is revealing the nature, the structure, and the glorious order of the New Covenant people of God.
Therefore, these details are not tedious. They are theological. They are a revelation of the character of God and the character of the Church He is building. God is a God of order, not of confusion. He is a God of symmetry, not of chaos. He is a God of holiness, not of profane mixture. And He is building His church to reflect His own perfect character. These verses about chambers and walls and ways are a picture of the well-ordered life of the people of God.
The Text
In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, facing the separate area and facing the building, there were chambers. The way in front of them was like the appearance of the chambers which were on the north, according to their length so was their width, and all their exits were both according to their arrangements and openings. Corresponding to the openings of the chambers which were toward the south was an opening at the head of the way, the way in front of the wall toward the east, as one enters them.
(Ezekiel 42:10-12 LSB)
Set Apart for Holy Work (v. 10)
We begin with the location and orientation of these chambers.
"In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, facing the separate area and facing the building, there were chambers." (Ezekiel 42:10)
Notice first where these chambers are located: "in the thickness of the wall." They are integral to the structure that defines and protects the sacred space. They are not freestanding shacks out in the yard. The life and work that happens in these chambers is part of the very boundary that separates the church from the world. This is a picture of the church's integrity. The work of the ministry, the life of the saints, is not an optional add-on; it is the wall.
Their orientation is crucial. They are "toward the east," the direction of the rising sun, a constant biblical symbol of new beginnings, of resurrection, and of the coming of Christ. But more than that, they are "facing the separate area and facing the building." The "separate area" was a space that ensured a buffer, a zone of holiness, around the central temple building. These chambers, the place where the priests would eat the most holy offerings and store their vestments, were oriented toward holiness. Their entire existence was defined by their relationship to the "separate area" and the main "building," the house of God itself.
This is a profound lesson for the church. The life of the church, and particularly the life of her ministers, must be oriented toward God and His holiness. We are not here to face the world, to take our cues from the culture, to see how we can be more relevant to the profane. We are to face the separate place. Our work, our preparation, our rest, it all must be done in light of the holiness of God's house. These chambers were where the priests were nourished and equipped. In the same way, the church is the place where God's people are fed on the holy things of God, the Word and sacrament, in order to be equipped for their service. This cannot happen if the church is facing the wrong direction.
Divine Consistency and Order (v. 11)
Next, the angel guiding Ezekiel points out the divine symmetry in the design.
"The way in front of them was like the appearance of the chambers which were on the north, according to their length so was their width, and all their exits were both according to their arrangements and openings." (Ezekiel 42:11)
The chambers on the south side are a mirror image of the chambers on the north side. This is not a trivial detail. God is emphasizing His consistency. What is true for the people of God in the north is true for the people of God in the south. The divine standard does not change with geography or culture. The "arrangements and openings," the entire structure, is the same.
This is a powerful rebuke to the theological relativism that plagues the modern church. We have churches that want to have a different standard of sexual morality on the West Coast than they do in the Midwest. We have denominations that want to redefine marriage in one country while pretending to hold to the old definition in another. God says no. His temple is symmetrical. His truth is not regional. The length and width of our doctrine and our practice are to be according to His single, unchanging pattern. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. The way we enter, the way we exit, the way we live within the household of God is to be consistent, ordered, and harmonious, just as these chambers were.
This divine order is a beautiful thing. The world offers a chaotic mess, where every man does what is right in his own eyes. The church is to be a city on a hill, a place of stunning, symmetrical, and coherent beauty. When the world looks at the church, they should see a people whose lives are structured by a transcendent logic, a divine grammar. They should see that our exits and our entrances, our public and our private lives, are all "according to their arrangements," that is, God's arrangements.
The One Way In (v. 12)
Finally, the description focuses on the entrance to this ordered life.
"Corresponding to the openings of the chambers which were toward the south was an opening at the head of the way, the way in front of the wall toward the east, as one enters them." (Ezekiel 42:12)
There is a specific entrance. It is not a free-for-all where you can just climb over the wall wherever you please. There is "an opening at the head of the way." This points us directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the head of the way. He declared, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). He is the door of the sheepfold (John 10:7). There is one prescribed entrance into the holy life of the church, and that entrance is Christ.
This entrance is located "in front of the wall toward the east." Again, we see the wall of separation, of definition, and the orientation toward the east, the place of new creation. To enter into the life of these chambers, into the life of the church, you must come through the one door God has provided. You cannot come based on your own merits, your own sincerity, or your own cleverness. You must come through Christ, who is the head of the way.
This is the great offense of the gospel to our egalitarian age. We want to believe there are many ways. We want to construct our own entrances. But God's blueprint is clear. The temple has a specific design, and that includes the doorways. To reject God's prescribed way of entry is to remain outside the wall, outside the place of holiness, nourishment, and life. It is to remain in the profane world, no matter how piously you may speak of God.
Conclusion: Christ Our Blueprint
So what are we to do with these verses? We are not to get out our graph paper and try to reconstruct a physical building. We are to look at our own lives, and the life of our church, and ask if we reflect the divine architect's design.
Is our life oriented toward the "separate area," toward the holiness of God? Or are we constantly facing the world, seeking its approval and adopting its fashions? Is there a divine symmetry and consistency in our lives? Is our Sunday faith the same as our Monday faith? Is our doctrine in the north the same as our practice in the south? Or are we a jumbled, inconsistent, and chaotic mess?
And most importantly, have we entered through the one true door? Have we come to God through the "opening at the head of the way," who is Jesus Christ? Or are we trying to climb in some other way, like a thief and a robber?
The glory of the gospel is that we are not the builders. We are the living stones, and Christ is the master architect and builder. When we come to Him, He takes us, chaotic and misshapen as we are, and He begins to cut and shape us according to His perfect blueprint. He brings His divine order into our internal chaos. He builds us into His holy temple, a place of stunning symmetry and glorious holiness. This vision in Ezekiel is a promise of what the church is becoming through the power of the Spirit.
God is building His house. It is not a ramshackle hut, but a glorious temple. It has walls, it has order, it has symmetry, and it has one door. Let us therefore submit to the architect's plan, orient our lives toward His holiness, and rejoice that we have been brought into this glorious building through the one true way, the Lord Jesus Christ.