The Prince, the Priest, and the People: A Geography of Glory Text: Ezekiel 48:21-22
Introduction: Blueprints for a New World
The book of Ezekiel concludes with one of the most detailed and, for many, perplexing visions in all of Scripture. After the storm of judgment, after the valley of dry bones, after the defeat of Gog and Magog, the prophet is given a tour of a new temple and a new land. We are given blueprints, measurements, and property lines. It is a vision of glorious, architectural, and geographical order. And as is often the case when modern Christians encounter such passages, we are tempted to either get lost in the weeds of hyper-literalism, trying to map it all onto a future millennial Palestine, or to float away into the clouds of a vague spiritualization, treating it as little more than a pious daydream.
Both approaches miss the point. This is not a literal blueprint for a stone temple to be built in a future dispensation. The book of Hebrews makes it abundantly clear that the temple sacrifices and priesthood have found their ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. To go back to sacrificing bulls and goats would be to deny the finished work of the cross. At the same time, this is not an abstract allegory with no teeth. These chapters are a detailed, symbolic prophecy of the New Covenant order. This is a vision of the Church of Jesus Christ, the new Israel of God, and the glorious worldwide kingdom that flows from her. This is a picture of Christendom, a society with God at its center.
Ezekiel is showing the exiles in Babylon, and us, what a restored and rightly ordered society looks like. It is a society where worship is central, where the civil magistrate has his proper place, and where the people of God are settled and secure. The land is not just dirt; it is a theological statement. The geography is a map of glory. In our text today, we see the portion allotted to the prince, the civil ruler, and its relationship to the portions for the priests and the people. What we have here is a divine political theology, a blueprint for a Christian social order.
The Text
And the remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy contribution and of the city’s possession of land; in front of the 25,000 cubits of the contribution toward the east border and westward in front of the 25,000 toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. And the holy contribution and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it. And apart from the Levites’ possession and the city’s possession, which are in the middle of that which belongs to the prince, everything between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall be for the prince.
(Ezekiel 48:21-22 LSB)
The Prince's Portion (v. 21)
We begin with the allotment for the civil magistrate, the prince:
"And the remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy contribution and of the city’s possession of land; in front of the 25,000 cubits of the contribution toward the east border and westward in front of the 25,000 toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. And the holy contribution and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it." (Ezekiel 48:21)
The first thing to notice is the prince's relationship to the "holy contribution." This central strip of land is set apart for the Lord. It contains the sanctuary, the portion for the priests, the portion for the Levites, and the city. This is the heart of the nation. And the prince's land is defined by its proximity to this holy center. He is given the land on the east and west sides of this central district. His authority and his domain are literally wrapped around the things of God.
This is a profound picture of the role of the civil magistrate in a Christian society. The prince is not the center. God is. The church is. The worship of God is the central, defining reality of the nation. The government's job is to be adjacent to that, to protect it, to honor it, and to derive its own legitimacy from its relationship to it. The prince's land flanks the holy portion. This means the state is to be a buffer, a guardian, a protector of the church. Its authority is not autonomous; it is derivative and ministerial. It is a ministry of justice given by God (Romans 13), and its first duty is to ensure that the worship of God can proceed without hindrance.
Our modern secularism, which demands a naked public square, stripped of all religious significance, is a direct inversion of this vision. Secularism wants to push the holy contribution to the margins, to make it a private hobby. But God's blueprint places the sanctuary "in the middle of it." A healthy nation is one that knows what its center is. And that center is not the state, not the market, not the individual, but the worship of the triune God.
Who is this prince? In the immediate context of Ezekiel, he is the restored Davidic ruler. But we must read this with New Covenant eyes. This prince is not Jesus Christ directly, because in chapter 45, this prince offers a sin offering for himself. Christ had no sin and His offering was once for all. Rather, this "prince" is a type for all godly civil rulers who serve under Christ the King. He represents the institution of civil government, rightly ordered. He is the Christian magistrate, the governor, the president, the king, who understands that his authority comes from God and is to be exercised for the good of God's people and the honor of God's name.
A Principled Geography (v. 22)
Verse 22 clarifies the arrangement, emphasizing the centrality of the sacred portions.
"And apart from the Levites’ possession and the city’s possession, which are in the middle of that which belongs to the prince, everything between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall be for the prince." (Ezekiel 48:22 LSB)
The text reiterates that the land for the Levites (the ministers of the sanctuary) and the city (the place of common life and commerce) are embedded within the prince's territory. But notice the framing. The prince's territory is itself framed by the tribal allotments of Judah and Benjamin. Judah, the tribe of the king, and Benjamin, the tribe that remained loyal to the Davidic house, are his immediate neighbors.
This shows us that the ruler is not isolated from his people. He is situated between them, accountable to them, and drawn from them. His authority is bounded. He is not an oriental despot with unlimited power. He has Judah on one side and Benjamin on the other. He is constrained by law, by custom, and by his covenant relationship with the people he governs. This is the biblical root of constitutional, limited government.
But the main point is driven home again: the possessions of the Levites and the city are "in the middle of that which belongs to the prince." Let's draw the picture. You have the sanctuary at the absolute center. Around it are the priests and Levites. Around them is the city. And enveloping all of this, like two hands cupped in protection, is the land of the prince. The state's job is to serve and protect the church and the people. It is a ministry of the sword to punish evil and praise good, so that the church can get on with its primary business of preaching the gospel and discipling the nations.
This is the opposite of the pagan model, where the temple is a department of the state, and the priests are functionaries of the king. It is also the opposite of the papist model, where the church attempts to usurp the sword of the magistrate. And it is certainly the opposite of the secularist model, where the state is hostile or indifferent to the church. The biblical model is one of sphere sovereignty, of distinct but allied institutions, all under the ultimate authority of Jesus Christ. The prince has his portion, and the priests have theirs, and they are arranged in a way that shows their proper, God-ordained relationship.
Conclusion: Building According to the Pattern
So what does this ancient property map have to do with us? Everything. This is a picture of the kingdom of God advancing in history. This is a postmillennial vision. It is a vision of a world where Christ is acknowledged as King not just in the hearts of individuals, but in the public life of nations.
The central strip of land, the holy contribution, is the Church. The sanctuary is the worship of the Church. The priests and Levites are the ministers of the Word and sacrament. The city is the communion of the saints, our life together. This is the engine room of history. From this center, the river of life flows out to heal the nations (Ezekiel 47). From this center, the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
And the prince's portion is the role of the Christian state. As the gospel advances and transforms cultures, it will inevitably transform politics. Nations will be discipled. Rulers will bow the knee to Christ. They will understand that their job is not to save souls, but to provide a platform of justice and order upon which the Church can do her work. They will see their authority not as an end in itself, but as a means to protect and honor the "holy contribution" that is at the heart of their society.
We are not there yet. We live in a world that is frantically trying to rearrange the map. Our culture is trying to build a society with a gaping hole at the center, or worse, with the state itself enthroned as the new god. But God has shown us the blueprint. He has shown us the pattern for a restored and healthy world. Our task is to be faithful in our portion, whether we are in the pulpit or the pews, the workshop or the halls of government. We are to live as though this vision is true, because it is. Christ is King, and His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. He is, piece by piece, cubit by cubit, reordering the map of the entire world until it conforms to this geography of glory, with His worship right in the middle of it all.