Ezekiel 40
In chapter 29 (verse 17) the 27th year of captivity was mentioned, the latest date given by the prophet. The chapters which now follow have no connection with the subject matter of that, but deal with the position of restored Israel in their home land, after the cleansing by judgment which is set forth in the chapters through which we have passed.
It is quite a common thought that the clay of the Jew, of Israel, is-forever past, that the Gentile has a position in God’s favor which will never be taken away; but the intelligent reader of the Scriptures knows that these thoughts clash with the word of God (See Romans 11). The Gentile’s clay is ending, the clay of Israel’s glory will soon dawn.
Ezekiel is in a vision brought again into the land from which he had been taken as a captive nearly a quarter-century earlier. To Moses the plan of the tabernacle was given in Mount Sinai; to David a revelation of the temple was granted, afterward built by his son; to Ezekiel was given the plan of the temple of the Millennium, and because it has not yet been built, its description was committed to writing for the day to come.
Verses 2,3: The prophet is set upon a very high mountain, upon or by which is as the building of a city, on the south. He sees a man whose appearance is like that of brass; now brass is in Scripture a symbol of righteousness according to the claims of God upon man. The line or cord of flax (from which linen is made), and the measuring rod also speak of righteousness, in the symbolism of Scripture.
Verse 5: The measuring reed is judged to have been slightly longer than 10 feet, 6 inches long; the ordinary cubit was roughly 18 inches and the span 9 inches. The wall here mentioned briefly, reappears at the close of chapter 42.
The remainder of our chapter, together with chapters 41 and 42, details the dimensions of the future temple. The entrances are described in turn in chapter 40, beginning with the chief one, at the east, followed by that at the north (verse 20), and that at the south (verse 24). It is of God thus to signify its figure, that He has made a way whereby men may approach Him; we know that in reality it is only through Christ and His atoning death.
Among the details, the prayerful study of which will reward the believer, we find in verses 38 to 43 references to animal sacrifices, for which provision was made in the dispensation of law communicated through Moses at Mount Sinai. The sacrifices will have a commemorative character, looking back to the cross of Christ, instead of forward to it as of old.
Verse 46 names the sons of Zadok as the priests of tile Millennium. In David’s reign there were two priests, Zadok and Abiathar; the latter was set aside by Solomon when he took part in Adonijah’s rebellion, but it was, after all, fulfillment of the word of God concerning Eli (1 Samuel chapters 2 and 3; 1 Kings 2:27). Verses 47-49 give the measurements of the porch of the temple.
ML 03/08/1936