Ezekiel - Lesson 40A

• Tonight we begin the most fascinating part of Ezekiel: the visions of the Kingdom temple

  • Before we dig into this complex topic, let’s get our bearings

    • Let’s remember my outline of the second half of the book

    • We are now entering part 2 of a section of prophecy devoted to revealing how God will dwell among men in the Kingdom

  • Part 1 in Chapter 39 explained how God would reveal Himself to the Gentile nations

    • The Lord shows Gentiles that He is the God Who dwells among Israel by protecting the nation when under Gentile attack

    • He defeats the invaders and makes a seven-year spectacle of the army’s defeat

  • And as we read in 39 last week, the Lord declares that His supernatural response to the invasion will make an impression 

Ezek. 39:21  “And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.
Ezek. 39:22 “And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward.

• Both Israel and the Gentile nations will end the 1,000-yr Kingdom understanding Israel’s God is the only God

• And in that way, His dwelling place among men is clear to all

• But beyond that display, the Lord will manifest Himself to Israel in a special manner consistent with how He has done so in the past

  • Specifically, the Lord will set His dwelling place among His people in a temple that dominates Jewish life in the Kingdom

    • Just as the Lord dwelled in a tabernacle in the desert and later a temple in the Promised Land, so He will do again

    • But as is typically the case, the Lord’s earlier manner is a small taste of His ultimate plan for His people in a day to come

    • So while Solomon’s temple and even Herod’s temple were impressive, they pale in comparison to the temple of the Kingdom

  • Chapters 40-48 offer virtually the only description of the Kingdom temple in all Scripture, and it’s filled with details

    • Ezekiel begins with a physical description of the temple complex in Chapters 40-42

    • Then in the first half of Chapter 43 the Lord’s glory returns to dwell in that temple, the first time since the Babylonian exile

    • In the second half of 43 through 46 we learn how worship at the temple will operate in the Kingdom 

    • Finally, in Chapters 47-48 we learn about Israel’s geography and borders to accommodate the massive new temple complex

  • In effect, the Lord gives Ezekiel a nine-chapter, guided tour of the future temple, and we accompany the prophet on that tour

    • The length of this section tells us something about the importance of the material

    • The Lord considers His presence dwelling among men to be the ultimate demonstration of His glory

    • And the fact He chooses to make Israel His home communicates how special that nation is to Him

  • Therefore, the nation sitting in exile hearing the prophet’s testimony had every reason for hope in the future

    • The Lord had not forsaken His people nor was He set to destroy them

    • Instead, the Lord would fulfill His promises for a glorious future

    • And the pinnacle of that glory would be God dwelling in His house

• Let’s begin with an introduction, as Ezekiel presents it:

Ezek. 40:1  In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was taken, on that same day the hand of the LORD was upon me and He brought me there.
Ezek. 40:2 In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, and on it to the south there was a structure like a city.
Ezek. 40:3 So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.
Ezek. 40:4 The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, hear with your ears, and give attention to all that I am going to show you; for you have been brought here in order to show it to you. Declare to the house of Israel all that you see.”

• This is Ezekiel’s final dated prophecy, which corresponds to April 19, 573 BC

  • That’s 12 years since the last message Ezekiel gave the exiles

    • This is the final prophecy Ezekiel wrote in his book, but it was the next-to-last vision he received

    • The final prophecy was against Egypt which came two years after this one

  • But notice the date of this prophecy is also tied to the fall of the city of Jerusalem

    • On the very same day that the city of Jerusalem fell for the third time to Nebuchadnezzar, the Lord gave Ezekiel this vision

    • So as the temple in Jerusalem was being burned and knocked to the ground, the Lord was showing Ezekiel the next temple

    • It’s a clear statement of hope in the midst of judgment

  • Also, the date of this prophecy was significant in the Jewish calendar

    • The prophecy comes on the Day of Atonement according to the civil calendar of Israel

    • That makes this vision so fitting

    • The old temple’s destruction and the vision of the new temple occur on the same day, a day appointed for cleaning Israel’s sin

• Next, notice the vision Ezekiel receives is centered on a very high mountain

  • Israel has plenty of mountains including at least one very high  mountain

    • But this high mountain is something altogether different

    • According to Isaiah, it will be the highest mountain on the earth in that day

Is. 2:2  Now it will come about that 
In the last days 
The mountain of the house of the LORD 
Will be established as the chief of the mountains, 
And will be raised above the hills; 
And all the nations will stream to it.
Is. 2:3  And many peoples will come and say, 
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, 
To the house of the God of Jacob; 
That He may teach us concerning His ways 
And that we may walk in His paths.” 
For the law will go forth from Zion 
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

• Already, we can see that the Kingdom temple and surrounding area will be dramatically changed from today

  • And yet as tall as this mountain will be, it will also be broad enough to support a large city at the very top

  • Ezekiel says on the south end of the mountain will be a structure as large as a city

  • That is the temple itself, and as we’ll see in coming chapters, it’s massive

• In v.3 Ezekiel says the Lord brings him to that city and in that city he meets a “Man” 

  • The man will be Ezekiel’s guide for this tour

  • His appearance is like bronze, which indicates strength and a glowing fire of glory

  • Because the description of the man is so brief at this point, we can’t know for sure who He is

  • But He may be the same visitor Daniel received in Babylon (at the same time in history (Daniel 10)

• The man holds a line of flax cord and a measuring rod

  • These were the measuring tapes of Ezekiel’s day, the cord for longer lengths and the rod for shorter lengths

  • Obviously, Ezekiel’s tour will include the need to take measurements along the way

  • The man wants Ezekiel to pay close attention to details so he can relate what he sees to his readers with proper perspective

  • And as you will see, the distances measured give us a whole new appreciation for what Ezekiel sees

• From here Ezekiel begins a detailed description of the Millennial Temple  moving from the outer court inward toward the Holy of Holies

  • That description culminates with the return of the Lord’s glory to His sanctuary

    • But before we look at these details, the mere existence of a temple raises important questions

    • First, why does a temple exist? What is its purpose? And how do we reconcile it with New Testament teaching on Jesus’ sacrifice

  • Over the centuries, many theologians have recoiled at the prospect of a return of a sacrificial system of worship in the Kingdom

    • As a result, many have rejected Ezekiel’s book from the canon or simply ignored it

    • Even the rabbis prior to Jesus struggled with Ezekiel

    • The Kingdom sacrificial system differs so much from the Mosaic system which the rabbis held to be eternal, that they couldn’t believe it was from God

  • Of course, for Christians the greatest concern is with the idea of sacrificing for sin

    • We remember the teaching of Hebrews

Heb. 10:10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Heb. 10:11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;
Heb. 10:12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,
Heb. 10:13 waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET.
Heb. 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
Heb. 10:15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
Heb. 10:16  “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM 
AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: 
I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, 
AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,” 
He then says,
Heb. 10:17  “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS 
I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”
Heb. 10:18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

• Basic New Testament theology holds that the substitutionary atonement of Jesus on the cross satisfies the wrath of God 

  • And not just for one person or for one time, but for all who place their trust in Jesus and for all time

• Therefore, why should God re-institute a temple and sacrificial system in the Kingdom?

  • It seems to negate Christ’s work or at least contradict New Testament teaching

  • So before we look at the temple itself, let’s do some homework on the question of why this temple even exists

  • And to understand the Millennial Temple, we first must understand temples and sacrifices historically

  • Starting with the effects of sin on the human condition

Gen. 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

• Adam and Woman were alone on earth, enjoying the Garden, without sin and without need for clothing

  • Then they disobeyed the word and sin entered their hearts

    • At that point, though they were married and were comfortable together without clothes, suddenly that changed

    • As soon as they sinned, they sought to cover themselves physically

    • Who were they hiding from? Who else could see them? Only each other

  • So we see that sin resulted in an immediate loss of fellowship between God’s people

    • Sin fundamentally changed the couple’s relationship with one another

    • Where before they were innocent and in perfect fellowship, now they were suspicious of each other

  • Now the couple had something to conceal, something to hide from one another

    • No longer could they be fully known nor fully know each other as they once did

    • Secret thoughts, sinful desires, shameful things entered their minds, and they recoiled from one another seeking cover

• But as serious as the physical effects of sin, the spiritual effects were even more serious 

Gen. 3:8  They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

• Spiritually, the couple were suddenly vulnerable before God and instinctively they hid from His presence

  • Mankind could no longer feel safe before God, because sin exposed them to God’s wrath

  • Their spirits within them sensed their vulnerability so they lost the opportunity for fellowship with God

  • Where once they knew God intimately, now they could not even be in His presence

• And God could no longer dwell among men openly because their sin demanded His judgment

  • So not only must man hide from God, but God must shield Himself from man

  • That’s why God made noise as He entered the Garden, to alert Man of His presence to give Adam opportunity to seek shelter

• So the effects of sin on the human condition are two sides of the same coin

  • Spiritually, sin separates us from God by making us enemies of His holiness

  • And physically, sin separates us from one another by making us enemies of one another by our selfish hearts 

  • Sin has made us spiritual enemies of God and sin has made us physical enemies of one another

• And throughout history, God has offered provision to correct for both of these problems, beginning here in the Garden

  • First, the Lord corrects for our spiritual separation with a spiritual covering which we receive by faith 

Gen. 3:15  And I will put enmity 
Between you and the woman, 
And between your seed and her seed; 
He shall bruise you on the head, 
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

• The Lord promised to send Adam and Woman a “Seed” Who would rectify the enemy’s deception

• The Seed was Christ, Who would reconcile mankind to God through His perfect life and sacrificial death

• This covering was spiritual in nature because it depended upon faith

  • The sacrifice wasn’t made in Adam’s day, but it was promised, so in that moment Adam didn’t receive the sacrifice

  • He received the promise of it, and by his faith in that promise, Adam was credited with that covering in advance

• How do we know Adam believed in God’s promise of a spiritual covering?

  • We see Adam’s faith reflected in v.20 when he calls his Wife by a new name, Eve

  • Previously she was named Woman, which means “of Man”

  • But now having heard God’s promise Adam renames his wife Eve, which means “mother of living”

  • Her new name was evidence of Adam’s faith in God’s promise to bring life to all mankind through the seed of Woman

• Then later, the Lord brought His promised Messiah into the world on a certain day to make the once-for-all sacrifice for sin

  • Jesus’ sacrifice is the focal point of faith throughout all history

  • Old Testament saints like Adam looked forward to that day, while New Testament saints look backward to that moment

  • But regardless, all saints receive their spiritual covering by faith

• But Adam and Woman also required a physical covering to restore fellowship between each other

  • Their sin had not only ruptured their relationship with God, but it had also destroyed their intimacy with one another

    • So in v.21 the Lord killed an animal (probably a lamb) and used the skin to clothe the man and woman

    • That sacrifice was physical, not spiritual, and it came in addition to the spiritual provision

  • It was necessary to restore physical fellowship between God’s people, Adam and Eve

    • Without it, they would have continued to feel shame in their nakedness 

    • Their physical discomfort reflecting an inward mistrust toward one another

    • But once covered, they experienced a degree of restoration and comfort again

  • Moreover, the physical sacrifice offered an object lesson on the meaning of the spiritual sacrifice

    • Since the spiritual covering was by faith alone, it was invisible and hard to appreciate in abstraction

    • But a physical sacrifice in which an animal loses its life makes clear the price of sin and the need for blood atonement

    • So physical sacrifice also becomes a picture of the sacrifice of Christ for our sake

    • So the physical covering is both a means of restoring human fellowship and a way to teach us about Christ’s sacrifice 

  • But also notice, God must officiate over our physical sacrifice 

    • The Lord was present as the animal was sacrificed in the Garden, so that He presided over the ritual 

    • Had Adam or Woman killed and skinned an animal on their own, it wouldn’t have sufficed 

    • Only if the Lord ordains and sanctifies the sacrifice does it serve His intended purpose

  • So, sin makes necessary a spiritual covering and a physical covering

    • Spiritual covering comes by a spiritual sacrifice, which is faith in the promised provision of Christ

    • And it restores our fellowship with God

    • Physical covering comes by a physical sacrifice ordained by the presence of God

    • And it restores fellowship between the children of God and teaches us about Christ

• It’s also critical to note the order of these events

  • First came the spiritual covering of faith to restore fellowship with God (v.20) 

    • Then came the physical covering of an animal sacrifice in the presence of God to restore and maintain human fellowship (v.21)

    • This moment establishes a pattern for all time

    • First, we must come to God by faith in the provision of His Son

    • Then having done so, we make physical sacrifices in the presence of God by which we maintain fellowship with God’s children

  • This pattern continues throughout the Bible

    • Noah believed in God and his faith found favor with God

    • Yet Noah practiced animal sacrifice at altars before the Lord to restore fellowship

    • Likewise, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were righteous by faith 

    • Yet when sin required, they also participated in God-ordained physical sacrifices as the Angel of the Lord attended in the moment

  • Then when Israel became a nation under Moses’ leadership, the Lord codified physical sacrifices in a formal way

    • Faith remained the spiritual covering for God’s people, but now the Lord instituted strict and regular patterns for physical sacrifice

    • He placed His spirit in a specific vessel, first the tabernacle and then the temple

  • And in that place, He commanded that Israel bring regular physical sacrifices

    • The Law treated Israel as a nation, a single entity

    • So the physical sacrifices served to maintain fellowship between the nation and their God

    • Spiritual fellowship with God was still by faith on an individual basis

    • But animal sacrifices provided for physical fellowship between the Jewish people and God and pictured Christ’s sacrifice

    • Any Jew who refused to participate in the physical sacrifices of the Law would be cut off from the commonwealth of Israel

• Now let’s jump to the Church period of history

  • Do we still find these same two sacrifices at work? Yes!

    • Of course, we too are reconciled to God by faith in Christ, which is our spiritual covering, but we also need a physical covering

    • It’s also for the purpose of restoring earthly fellowship and teaching us about Christ

    • And our physical sacrifice is also performed in the presence of God 

    • So where and how do these physical sacrifices happen today?

  • The key to understanding our physical sacrifice is to first recognize where God dwells during this period of history

    • In Genesis 3, God dwelled directly with Man and Woman in the Garden, so the physical sacrifice happened in the Garden

    • During the period of the patriarchs, the Lord attended as the Angel of the Lord (pre-incarnate Christ)

      • So sacrifices happened at altars set up wherever the Angel of the Lord appeared or directed

    • And in Moses’ time the Lord dwelled in a physical building, so Israel gathered there to make sacrifices

  • Today, the presence of the Lord is not located in a certain place nor does He come and go

    • The Bible says that the Spirit of God is resident inside every believer and remains there forever

1Cor. 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

• If our body is the temple and the Spirit resides within us, then our physical body must be the place of our physical covering

• Our body is the place where God presides over our physical sacrifices 

• Paul describes how we perform the physical sacrifices of this age, in Romans:

Rom. 12:1  Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Rom. 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

• We present our bodies as living sacrifices to God, in His presence, as our service of worship

  • Just as the Israelites brought animals to God in the temple and sacrificed for physical covering, so we do something similar

  • Except in this age there is no physical temple nor are we under the Law Moses which demanded animal sacrifice

  • Instead, we are under the Law of Christ which demands personal sacrifices, as Paul said

• We sacrifice our flesh’s desires and comforts to obey Christ and serve His body, and in that way we obtain physical covering

  • The structure of Romans reinforces this interpretation 

  • In the structure of Romans Chapters 12-16 contain a list of ways the Church is called to sacrifice the flesh in service to Christ

  • Which is why Paul opens Chapter 12 with a call to perform the physical sacrifice required in worship of God

• In effect, Romans 12-16 describes a sacrificial system for the New Testament believer 

  • Our system looks very different from the system of the Old Testament

  • But that’s because the house of God in our day is so different than the one He lived in during Israel’s day

  • Nevertheless, the physical sacrifices made in their day accomplish the same purpose that ours do today

• As we sin against one another, we are called to make sacrifices in God’s presence to atone and restore fellowship with one another

  • By traveling to a certain building and taking the life of a valuable animal, a Jew made a sacrifice of time and money 

  • This reminded the Jew of the cost of sin and gave incentive to not repeat the mistake

  • Likewise, we are called to sacrifice our own fleshly desires in the presence of God

• So that by our sacrifice of pride and self-interest for the love of others, we may restore fellowship truly within the body

  • That’s why we are all called priests in the New Testament

    • Because we all have the Spirit God dwelling inside us, therefore we are all qualified to make sacrifices before the altar of our heart

    • Those physical sacrifices are how we worship God, and they are not contradictory to our spiritual dependence upon Christ

  • On the contrary, they are modeled on Christ’s own ministry, and in that way our sacrifices are also picturing Christ

    • As Paul explains

Phil. 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
Phil. 2:4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
Phil. 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
Phil. 2:6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Phil. 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Phil. 2:8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

• Though He had no sin of His own, Christ made Himself a physical sacrifice to serve the interests of the body of Christ

  • Likewise, though we have been declared righteous by faith in Christ, we still make physical sacrifices to establish fellowship in the body 

  • We do this even as we rely on Christ’s sacrifice for our spiritual covering

  • Our dependence on the one does not invalidate the need for the other

  • As long as sin exists both will also exist

• With that, let’s consider what we already know of life in the Kingdom

  • First, as we learned in earlier lessons, sin will continue to exist within the Kingdom world

    • Those saints who have been resurrected prior to the Kingdom (i.e., the Old Testament saints, Church saints, & Tribulation saints) will not possess sin since we are glorified

    • But the natural believers who enter the Kingdom following Tribulation will bring sin with them

    • These believers will reproduce and in time their offspring will repopulate the earth with sinful humanity for 1,000 years 

  • Since sin still exists, then the need for a spiritual covering for sin remains as well

    • Once again, faith in the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the cross will be the spiritual cover that restores fellowship with God

    • Just as an Old Testament saint’s faith looked forward to a future day in this age when the provision would be made

    • And a New Testament saint’s faith looks back to a prior moment in this age when that fulfillment took place

    • So a Kingdom saint’s faith will look back to that moment in an earlier age 

  • For that same reason, however, a physical covering for sin will also be required  

    • Sin in the Kingdom will still require a physical covering to restore fellowship among God’s people

    • And these physical sacrifices will picture the spiritual sacrifice of Christ

• But the nature of the Kingdom sacrifice reverts back to the Old Testament style of sacrifice because God’s dwelling place became a temple again

  • God has always reserved a physical temple for His people Israel only

    • After the people of Israel were established as a nation, the Lord promised that they alone would be His people eternally

    • Therefore, the Lord only ever sets up His physical temple in Israel

  • During the Church Age, Israel is placed under judgment until the return of Christ (i.e., the Age of the Gentiles, according to Daniel)

    • So the Lord is not tabernacling with Israel at this time

    • Instead, He is tabernacling with a people who are not His people,  He says, meaning with the Gentile Church

    • But there is not “one” Gentile nation…all non-Jewish nations are Gentile!

    • So instead, the Lord dwells within every Gentile individually, so that in effect the Lord dwells in every Gentile nation at once

  • But in the Kingdom age, Israel will no longer be under judgment so they are restored as the chief nation on earth under God’s protection

    • Consequently, in keeping with His promises, the Lord will once again dwell among Israel and nowhere else

    • Therefore, a temple will be rebuilt and God’s presence will return to live within it

  • And since the Lord’s presence dwells in a building again, then all physical sacrifices must happen at that one place again

    • Once again, people will stream to the temple regularly to sacrifice animals as the Lord directs

    • These sacrifices accomplish exactly the same things the earlier physical sacrifices covered

    • They serve to restore fellowship among God’s people and teach about the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice

  • If the people do not participate in these sacrifices, they are cut off from fellowship with God’s people

    • For example, here’s what the Lord says will happen to any people who refuse to engage in the physical sacrifices:

Zech. 14:16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zech. 14:17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them.
Zech. 14:18 If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zech. 14:19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

• All the nations on the earth will be required to go up to the temple regularly to participate in worship of various kinds, including feasts

• And if a nation refuses to participate, then the nation will experience drought and plague in the Kingdom

• One final note…sacrifices are covering for sin, so this system is only used by those who have sin

  • Those of us who are glorified will have no sin, and therefore we will not make sacrifices

    • Our role will be limited to governing it seems, though perhaps some of us may be priests

Is. 66:18  “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.
Is. 66:19 “I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations.
Is. 66:20 “Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.
Is. 66:21 “I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says the LORD.

• The Lord will take some of the Gentile nations and make them priests for this temple

• It’s possible that only the natural citizens of the Kingdom will play this role, however

• So with that background, let’s return to Ezekiel’s tour of the temple structure

Ezek. 40:5  And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the temple all around, and in the man’s hand was a measuring rod of six cubits, each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one rod; and the height, one rod.

• The outer wall running around the temple is measured first in cubits and a handbreadth, which is about 21 inches

  • Altogether, the wall is ten feet high and ten feet thick

  • And the outer wall has gates

Ezek. 40:6 Then he went to the gate which faced east, went up its steps and measured the threshold of the gate, one rod in width; and the other threshold was one rod in width.
Ezek. 40:7 The guardroom was one rod long and one rod wide; and there were five cubits between the guardrooms. And the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate facing inward was one rod.
Ezek. 40:8 Then he measured the porch of the gate facing inward, one rod.
Ezek. 40:9 He measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its side pillars, two cubits. And the porch of the gate was faced inward.
Ezek. 40:10 The guardrooms of the gate toward the east numbered three on each side; the three of them had the same measurement. The side pillars also had the same measurement on each side.
Ezek. 40:11 And he measured the width of the gateway, ten cubits, and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.
Ezek. 40:12 There was a barrier wall one cubit wide in front of the guardrooms on each side; and the guardrooms were six cubits square on each side.
Ezek. 40:13 He measured the gate from the roof of the one guardroom to the roof of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits from one door to the door opposite.
Ezek. 40:14 He made the side pillars sixty cubits high; the gate extended round about to the side pillar of the courtyard.
Ezek. 40:15 From the front of the entrance gate to the front of the inner porch of the gate was fifty cubits.
Ezek. 40:16 There were shuttered windows looking toward the guardrooms, and toward their side pillars within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. And there were windows all around inside; and on each side pillar were palm tree ornaments.

• Gates in walls were more than swinging doors to keep out intruders

  • They were elaborate chambers built within the wall itself and extending inward for use in guarding the entrance and conducting business

    • Altogether there are three gates in the outer wall, and Ezekiel begins with the East gate

    • That gate is in line with the entrance of the temple building itself which faced East

    • The entrance to the gate has seven steps and leads to a 10 foot deep threshold

  • The gate has three guard rooms on each side that are 10x10 in size and separated by 5 ft walls

    • Finally past the guard rooms is a porch  

    • In this case, the gate is elaborate and includes guard rooms

    • The doors of this gate are 100 ft high, which is not unusual for important buildings

    • The entire structure is reminiscent of the Solomonic gates discovered from that king’s day