Ezekiel 42:1-20
The Chambers for the Priests
1 Then he brought me out into the outer court, by the way toward the north; and he brought me into the chamber which was opposite the separating courtyard, and which was opposite the building toward the north. 2 Facing the length, which was one hundred cubits (the width was fifty cubits), was the north door. 3 Opposite the inner court of twenty cubits, and opposite the pavement of the outer court, was gallery against gallery in three stories. 4 In front of the chambers, toward the inside, was a walk ten cubits wide, at a distance of one cubit; and their doors faced north. 5 Now the upper chambers were shorter, because the galleries took away space from them more than from the lower and middle stories of the building. 6 For they were in three stories and did not have pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper level was shortened more than the lower and middle levels from the ground up. 7 And a wall which was outside ran parallel to the chambers, at the front of the chambers, toward the outer court; its length was fifty cubits. 8 The length of the chambers toward the outer court was fifty cubits, whereas that facing the temple was one hundred cubits. 9 At the lower chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court.
10 Also there were chambers in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, opposite the separating courtyard and opposite the building. 11 There was a walk in front of them also, and their appearance was like the chambers which were toward the north; they were as long and as wide as the others, and all their exits and entrances were according to plan. 12 And corresponding to the doors of the chambers that were facing south, as one enters them, there was a door in front of the walk, the way directly in front of the wall toward the east.
13 Then he said to me, "The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separating courtyard, are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the LORD shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall lay the most holy offerings—the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering—for the place is holy. 14 When the priests enter them, they shall not go out of the holy chamber into the outer court; but there they shall leave their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they may approach that which is for the people."
Outer Dimensions of the Temple
15 Now when he had finished measuring the inner temple, he brought me out through the gateway that faces toward the east, and measured it all around. 16 He measured the east side with the measuring rod, five hundred rods by the measuring rod all around. 17 He measured the north side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod all around. 18 He measured the south side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod. 19 He came around to the west side and measured five hundred rods by the measuring rod. 20 He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred wide, to separate the holy areas from the common.
The details of the heavenly vision of the Holy temple are continued as the outer court walls had rooms which were shown to house the priests. There was a stepped gallery there that was three stories high with a wall between them and the outer courtyard. The rooms were accessed from the east side as you walked into them from the courtyard. It was all quite an elaborate design shown to Ezekiel and the readers of his account. God finally spoke to Ezekiel through the angelic guide to explain the purpose and function of the rooms. They were the holy chambers where the priests who administered the sacrifices would eat the holy offerings as they were prescribed as Leviticus 6:16, 26-27 had commanded. That place was set apart for God and His work, the sacrifices for forgiveness and atonement. When they were finished they changed into other clothes to be able to come near the other people since they were wearing holy clothing to minister as intercessors for them. This is symbolic of Christ who entered as our high priest with His robes of absolute righteousness to intercede for us that He might atone once and for all times for our sin to be forgiven. This is why the old temple sacrifices were described in such detail that we might make the connection with that which they cast a shadow on for us to contemplate and understand later when He sacrificed Himself and it was revealed through the apostles for our understanding and edification. This is why the dimensions of the temple which seem so boring or unimportant demonstrate the intricacies of God’s work to design and execute redemption for us in Christ and which point to a heavenly temple who is the Lord Himself in the very real New Jerusalem to be brought down from heaven to us at the end of all time. This account therefore gives us a glimpse into God’s glory and our worship in awe of His preordained plan and design for His people where He also now lives and is worshipped in these individual temples and corporately as His body which is the church not made with man’s hands. We are also called to be holy, separated to the service of worship to our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Oh, the dimensions of that holy calling for all in Christ who all are priests to our God are so indescribable and almost too wonderful to contemplate (Ephesians 1:3-4, 18-20, Colossians 1:9, 2 Timothy 1:9)! This temple description is a pattern for we who are in Christ, since we are called to be set apart as priests to serve and worship Him in the mansions prepared for us (John 14:2-3).
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