Ezekiel 41 · WEB
The Inner Temple and Most Holy Place
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He brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tent.
2The breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured its length, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits.
3Then went he inward, and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits.
4He measured its length, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said to me, This is the most holy place.
5Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side room, four cubits, all around the house on every side.
6The side rooms were in three stories, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which belonged to the house for the side rooms all around, that they might have hold, and not have hold in the wall of the house.
7The side rooms were broader as they encompassed the house higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher all around the house: therefore the breadth of the house continued upward; and so one went up from the lowest to the highest by the middle.
8I saw also that the house had a raised base all around: the foundations of the side rooms were a full reed of six great cubits.
9The thickness of the wall, which was for the side rooms, on the outside, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side rooms that belonged to the house.
10Between the rooms was a width of twenty cubits around the house on every side.
11The doors of the side rooms were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits all around.
12The building that was before the separate place at the side toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.
13So he measured the house, one hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with its walls, one hundred cubits long;
14also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, one hundred cubits.
15He measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at its back, and its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits; and the inner temple, and the porches of the court;
16the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries around on their three stories, over against the threshold, with wood ceilings all around, and from the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered),
17to the space above the door, even to the inner house, and outside, and by all the wall all around inside and outside, by measure.
18It was made with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces;
19so that there was the face of a man toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. Thus was it made through all the house all around:
20from the ground to above the door were cherubim and palm trees made: thus was the wall of the temple.
21As for the temple, the door posts were squared; and as for the face of the sanctuary, the appearance of it was as the appearance of the temple.
22The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits; and its corners, and its length, and its walls, were of wood: and he said to me, This is the table that is before Yahweh.
23The temple and the sanctuary had two doors.
24The doors had two leaves each, two turning leaves: two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other.
25There were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm trees, like as were made on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the face of the porch outside.
26There were closed windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch: thus were the side rooms of the house, and the thresholds.
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Summary
The angelic guide leads Ezekiel into the inner sanctuary, measuring the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place with precise dimensions. The temple is surrounded by three tiers of side rooms and adorned throughout with carved cherubim and palm trees. A wooden altar stands before Yahweh, described as "the table that is before Yahweh," signifying communion with God.
Themes
- Sacred architecture and holiness
- The Most Holy Place as the dwelling of God
- Cherubim guarding the presence of God
- Palm trees as symbols of life and victory
- Communion at the table before Yahweh
Key verses
- Ezek 41:18 — “It was made with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces.”
- Ezek 41:22 — “The altar was of wood... and he said to me, This is the table that is before Yahweh.”
- Ezek 41:4 — “He measured its length, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said to me, This is the most holy place.”
Context & background
Ezekiel, exiled in Babylon (modern central Iraq) near the Chebar canal, receives this visionary tour of a future temple around 573 BC. The perfect symmetry and sacred artwork echo Solomon's temple in Jerusalem (modern Israel) but with greater order and purity. Cherubim and palm trees recall both the Garden of Eden and Solomon's temple decoration (1 Kings 6:29), suggesting the restoration of paradise in God's dwelling. The wooden altar described as a "table" hints at ongoing fellowship with Yahweh.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 6:23-35 — Cherubim and palm trees in Solomon's temple
- Exodus 26:33 — The veil separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place
- Genesis 3:24 — Cherubim guarding the way to the tree of life
- Malachi 1:7 — The table of the Lord and true worship
- Revelation 21:22 — The eternal city where God himself is the temple