Ezekiel 41 meticulously details the measurements and architectural features of the visionary temple's inner structure. The prophet is guided through the temple, where the dimensions of the holy place and the most holy place are precisely recorded. Surrounding the main edifice are three stories of side chambers, and the interior is adorned with carvings of cherubims and palm trees, along with a wooden altar.
And 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 tabernacle.
And the 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 the length thereof, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits.
And he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place.
And the side-chambers 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-chambers round about, that they might have hold therein, and not have hold in the wall of the house.
And the side-chambers were broader as they encompassed the house higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house continued upward; and so one went up from the lowest chamber to the highest by the middle chamber.
The thickness of the wall, which was for the side-chambers, on the outside, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side-chambers that belonged to the house.
And the doors of the side-chambers 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 round about.
And the 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 round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits.
And he measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at the back thereof, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, a hundred cubits; and the inner temple, and the porches of the court;
the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the threshold, ceiled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows (now the windows were covered),
so 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 round about:
The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before Jehovah.
And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm-trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there was a threshold of wood upon the face of the porch without.
And there 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-chambers of the house, and the thresholds.
Study Notes for Ezekiel 41
Verse 1
The vision now moves inside the Temple (Hekal) proper. The detailed measurements emphasize the reality and precision of God’s plan, though the structure remains purely visionary.
Verse 4
The dimensions of the inner chamber (20 cubits square) match the dimensions of the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies) in Solomon’s Temple (1 Kings 6:20), signifying continuity in the dwelling place of God.
Verse 5
These side chambers (Hebrew: *tzela'ot*) were rooms built around the exterior of the Temple walls, used by the priests for storage, changing clothes, or lodging (cf. Ezek. 42:13).
Verse 6
The chambers were built into the wall structure by resting on ledges or offsets, ensuring that the inner sacred wall of the Temple proper was not pierced or violated by the support beams.
Verse 8
The use of a 'full reed of six great cubits' (meaning six cubits plus a handbreadth, cf. Ezek. 40:5) stresses the monumental and precise nature of the measurements being recorded.
Verse 12
This describes a large, separate structure to the west, situated in the 'separate place' (*gizarah*). Its purpose is unstated, but it likely served as a utility, storage, or treasury building for the sanctuary complex.
Verse 15
This verse summarizes the overall length of the inner complex, confirming that the entire area from the front of the Temple to the back of the western building measured 100 cubits.
Verse 16
The description shifts from pure dimensions to internal features, noting the narrow windows and the extensive use of wood paneling, characteristic of ancient sacred architecture.
Verse 18
The walls were decorated with alternating cherubim and palm trees. This motif, echoing the decoration of Solomon’s Temple, symbolizes the presence of divine guardians and the paradisiacal purity of God’s dwelling.
Verse 19
The cherubim here are described with two faces (man and lion), a variation on the four-faced cherubim seen in Ezekiel’s initial vision (Ezek. 1:10), showing symbolic flexibility in representing divine beings.
Verse 22
The wooden structure described is identified by the guide as 'the table that is before the LORD,' likely the Table of Showbread (cf. Exod. 25:23), emphasizing communion and covenant sustenance within the inner sanctuary.
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