Ezekiel 41:3-4

This was the most sacred room in the *temple. Ezekiel did not enter this room and he did not describe its contents. Only one man, the chief priest, could enter this room.

The ‘man’ who was with Ezekiel did enter this room. That is because this ‘man’ was not human. He was an *angel. We know this fact because of his astonishing description in 40:3. *Angels are without *sin. So, unlike people, they are able to enter the place where God is present. (See Isaiah 6:1-5.)

The arrangement of rooms that Ezekiel saw was not new. The original *temple had both a *holy place and a most *holy place. So did the sacred tent that Moses built. This was the only type of building where God’s *glory would be present. People could not *worship God in whatever manner they chose. The buildings were God’s plan (1 Chronicles 28:11-12). The ceremonies were God’s plan. The *sacrifices were God’s plan. Even the furniture was God’s plan (Exodus 25:40). God arranged all these things so that people could *worship him. He knew about their *sin and human weakness. At the right time, he would send his *Messiah to rescue them from *sin (Galatians 4:4-5). But until then, God provided his law to lead people to the *Messiah (Galatians 3:24-25). And part of that law was the rules about the *temple (Hebrews 9:8-14).

The side rooms – Ezekiel 41:5-11

v5 Then the man measured the wall of the *temple. It was 6 *cubits thick. There were side rooms 4 *cubits wide round about the *temple. v6 The side rooms were on three floors, one above another. There were 30 rooms on each floor. The *temple's outer wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below. So, the rooms could rest on the step in the wall but they did not join to the wall. v7 The side rooms round about the *temple were wider on each higher floor. The rooms were widest on the top floor. Stairs went up from the lowest floor to the middle floor. Then stairs went from the middle floor to the highest floor.

v8 I saw that the *temple had a high base. This was also the base of the side rooms. The height of this base was the length of the stick, that is, 6 *cubits. v9 The outer wall of the side rooms was 5 *cubits thick. There was an open area between the side rooms of the *temple and the priests’ rooms. v10 This open area was 20 *cubits wide and it went all round the *temple. v11 The doors of the side rooms opened onto the base. One door was toward the north, and another door was toward the south. The width round the base was 5 *cubits.