The Temple Interior
Ezekiel 41, verse 1. Then he brought me into the temple and measured its entrance, six cubits wide on one side and six cubits wide on the other side. Ezekiel 41, verse 2. The width of the entryway was ten cubits, and the sills of the gate were five cubits on this side and five cubits on the other side; and he measured its length, forty cubits, and its width, twenty cubits. Ezekiel 41, verse 3. He also went into the inner court and measured the posts of the doorway, two cubits; and the doorway itself, six cubits high; and the width of the sills, seven cubits. Ezekiel 41, verse 4. He measured the length of the doors, forty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits, in front of the sanctuary; and he said to me, “This is the holy of holies.”
The Wall and Its Chambers
Ezekiel 41, verse 5. Next he measured the wall of the house, six cubits. The width of each side all around was four cubits on every side. Ezekiel 41, verse 6. The side chambers were thirty-two in number, each next to the other, and the layout along the wall of the house all around was so one could see that all of them went together, and that nowhere did they touch the walls of the house. Ezekiel 41, verse 7. As one went up from story to story, the side chambers became wider all around, because their supporting ledges in the wall of the temple ascended like steps; therefore, the width of the structure increased as one went up from the lowest story to the highest, by way of the middle one. Ezekiel 41, verse 8. The side chambers of the house all around were of a high layout of sides, equal in measurement to one measuring stick. The layout was six cubits. Ezekiel 41, verse 9. The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits, and the open spaces between the sides of the house Ezekiel 41, verse 10. and the halls measured twenty cubits in width, all around the sides of the house. Ezekiel 41, verse 11. The doors of the halls led to the open space: the one door led north, and the other door led south; and the width of the light of the open space was five cubits in width all around. Ezekiel 41, verse 12. That which made a boundary before the open space, like the edge of the sea, was seventy cubits wide; and the width of the wall which bordered was five cubits all around, and its length ninety cubits. Ezekiel 41, verse 13. Then he measured in front of the house, one hundred cubits long, and the open spaces and their boundaries and walls were one hundred cubits long. Ezekiel 41, verse 14. Also the width of the face of the house, along with the open spaces before it, was one hundred cubits. Ezekiel 41, verse 15. Then he measured the length of the boundary in front separating the open space, with its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits. The temple, its corners and the outer entrance area, Ezekiel 41, verse 16. their thresholds and the latticed doors, were set so the narrow openings would give light through narrow openings to all three stories, like that of a fishnet. The house and all the neighboring structures all around were paneled with wood, the floor and from the floor up to the doorways, and the doorways opened up all three stories into the shaded light.
The Holy Images
Ezekiel 41, verse 17. As far as the nearby wall of the inner and outer courts and along upon the wall all around within and without Ezekiel 41, verse 18. were depicted cherubim and palm trees, between cherub and cherub. Each cherub had two faces, Ezekiel 41, verse 19. the face of a man toward a palm tree on one side, and the face of a lion toward a palm tree on the other side. Thus it was depicted throughout the house all around. Ezekiel 41, verse 20. From the floor to the threshold, the cherubim and the palm trees were interspersed upon the walls. Ezekiel 41, verse 21. The holy place and the temple were laid out square, and along the face of the sanctuary was what looked like a wooden altar. Ezekiel 41, verse 22. Its height was three cubits, and its length and breadth, two cubits. It had horns, and its ascent and walls were wooden. Then he said to me, “This is the table that is before the presence of the Lord.” Ezekiel 41, verse 23. The temple and the holy place had two doors. Ezekiel 41, verse 24. The doors had two panels apiece, two folding panels on hinges: two panels for one door and two panels for the other door. Ezekiel 41, verse 25. Depictions were upon them, cherubim and palm trees upon the doorways of the temple, like the depiction of the sanctuary, and excellent kinds of wood, as in front of the entrance without, along with hidden windows. Ezekiel 41, verse 26. He measured from one side to the other along the canopies of the entrance chamber, and the sides of the house were joined together.