English · KJV

Ezekiel 43:1

“The Return of God's Glory”Ezekiel 43:1–6

King James Version
Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east:

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
Afterward he brought H3212 me to the gate H8179, even the gate H8179 that looketh H6437 toward H1870 the east H6921:

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
Then the man brought me back to the gate that faces east,

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looks toward the east.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
Afterward he brought me to the gate, euen the gate that turneth towarde the East.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
And he causeth me to go to the gate, the gate that is looking eastward.

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
8 Hebrew words
  1. וַיּוֹלִכֵנִיvai·yo·li·Khe·niand he led meH1980Conj-w ¦ V-Hiphil-ConsecImperf-3ms ¦ 1csVerb Hiphil Consecutive Imperfect 3rd Singular Masculineוַandיּוֹלִכֵhe ledנִיme
  2. אֶל'eltoH413PrepPreposition
  3. הַשָּׁעַרha·Sha·'arthe gateH8179Art ¦ N-msNoun Singular Masculine Absoluteהַtheשָּׁעַרgate
  4. שַׁעַרSha·'ar[the] gateH8179N-msNoun Singular Masculine Absolute
  5. אֲשֶׁר'a·SherwhichH834RelParticle Relative
  6. פֹּנֶהpo·Neh[was] facingH6437V-Qal-Prtcpl-msVerb Qal Participle Singular Masculine Absolute
  7. דֶּרֶךְDe·rekh[the] direction ofH1870N-cscNoun Singular common gender Construct
  8. הַקָּדִיםha·ka·Dimthe eastH6921Art ¦ N-msNoun Singular Masculine Absoluteהַtheקָּדִיםeast
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Hebrew, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Hebrew word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Hebrew word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “the LORD” where the gloss reads “Yahweh”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

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This verse

The guide leads Ezekiel to the temple gate that faces east, the gate by which the glory of the LORD is about to return.

“Afterward he brought me to the gate,”

“Afterward” follows the measuring of the temple in chapters 40 to 42. The guide leads, and Ezekiel follows where he is taken.

“even the gate that looketh toward the east:”

The gate faces the direction in which the glory went when it left the first temple, and from which it is about to come back.

Passage studyEzekiel 43:1–6

The Glory of the LORD Returns to His House

1Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: 2And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. 3And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. 4And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. 5So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house. 6And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.

Summary

Ezekiel has been shown every measurement of a new temple, and now his guide brings him to the gate that faces east. Along the road from the east comes the glory of the God of Israel. His voice sounds like many waters, and the earth shines with his glory. Ezekiel knows this glory. He saw it by the river Chebar when God called him, and he saw it leave the temple before Jerusalem was destroyed. He falls on his face. The glory enters the house by the east gate, the Spirit lifts Ezekiel into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD fills the house. Then the LORD speaks to him from inside it, while the man who has been his guide stands beside him. The God who left his defiled house in judgment comes back to live among his people, and he comes back speaking.

The glory comes back by the way it left

These six verses answer one of the saddest scenes in Ezekiel. Before Jerusalem fell, the prophet was shown the idolatry that filled the temple, and then he watched the glory of the LORD leave it (Ezekiel 8–11). The glory rose from the threshold of the house and stood at the door of the east gate (Ezekiel 10:18–19), and then it left the city itself, moving eastward (Ezekiel 11:23). Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple in 586 BC. Ezekiel, a priest, was living among the exiles in Babylon, and for them the loss of the temple, the place where God dwelt among them, felt like being abandoned by God himself.

Now, after the long measurements of courts, chambers and gates in Ezekiel 40–42, the vision turns from the building to the One who will live in it. The guide brings Ezekiel to “the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east”. The glory comes “from the way of the east” and enters “by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east”. God returns by the very road he left by, and the judgment of the earlier chapters is answered by his mercy. The return is God’s own doing, the fruit of his faithfulness to his covenant after the punishment his people had deserved.

The verb behind “he brought me” in verse 1 is yâlak, which means to walk and, in the form used here, to lead or carry. Ezekiel goes where he is taken, and the whole vision is God’s to show him. The gate is shaʻar, an opening, a door or gate, and the doubled phrase “the gate, even the gate” fixes our eyes on this one entrance among all the gates of the vision. It “looketh”, pânâh, which means to turn or to face, and the word for “toward” is derek, a road or way. Derek is also “the way” in “the way of the east” in verse 2 and in “the way of the gate” in verse 4, so the road the glory travels runs through all three verses. The east is qâdîym, the front or forward part and so, by orientation, the east. The word names a direction, and it is also used for the east wind.

Why the east?

The first reason is Ezekiel’s own story: the glory comes back from the direction in which it went. Scripture marks the east at other turning points too. When Adam was sent out of Eden, God placed cherubim at the east of the garden to keep the way of the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). The east is also where the sun rises, and the glory that makes the earth shine in verse 2 comes up from the same quarter as the dawn.

This gate comes up again in Ezekiel 44:1–3. There it is kept shut, because the LORD has entered by it, and the prince alone sits in it.

What is the glory of the LORD?

The word for glory in verses 2, 4 and 5 is kâbôwd, and it stands behind both “the glory of the God of Israel” and “his glory” in verse 2. It is used only in a figurative sense, for glory, honour, splendour and abundance. When Scripture speaks of the glory of God, it means his presence made visible in its majesty and splendour.

Verse 2 calls it the glory of the God of Israel, and verses 4 and 5 call it the glory of the LORD, Yᵉhôvâh, the covenant name of the self-existent, eternal God. The God who bound himself to Israel is the one who comes home.

This glory has come to God’s people before. It rested on Mount Sinai in cloud and fire (Exodus 24:16), filled the tabernacle at its dedication (Exodus 40:34–35), and filled Solomon’s temple when it was completed (1 Kings 8:10–11). Each time it marked the place God had chosen to dwell among his people. Ezekiel sees it happen again in the house he has just been shown, and after the exile Haggai would speak of the latter glory of God’s house (Haggai 2:7–9).

A voice like many waters and an earth that shines

Verse 2 gives the glory a sound and a light. “His voice was like a noise of many waters.” In Hebrew “voice” and “noise” are the same word, qôwl, a voice or sound, so the voice of God is set beside the sound of great waters, like the roar of a mighty waterfall or of waves crashing on the shore. It is a sound of overwhelming power and authority, and it fills the scene with awe.

“And the earth shined with his glory.” The radiance spreads out from the God who comes, over the earth around him. It gives a glimpse of what the prophets promised: “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). Isaiah speaks of the glory of the LORD rising upon Zion (Isaiah 60:1–3). The glory that returns to one house will one day be known through all the world.

Ezekiel knows the glory he has seen before

In verse 3 Ezekiel says that this sight matches two he has seen before, and the words for seeing pile up. “Appearance” and “vision” are marʼeh, a view or the thing seen. “Visions” is marʼâh, a vision. “I saw” is râʼâh, to see, and the phrase “I saw” comes three times in verse 3. Ezekiel wants us to know that he saw this with his own eyes, and that it is the same glory each time.

The first sight he names is the vision “when I came to destroy the city”, the vision of the glory leaving the temple before Jerusalem’s ruin. Ezekiel came as God’s messenger, carrying the word of judgment, and he speaks of that coming as his own because he was so bound up in the work his message did. The verb for destroy is shâchath, to decay, and in the causative sense used here, to ruin. “I came” is bôwʼ, the ordinary verb to go or come, and it is the same verb that says the glory “came” in verses 2 and 4. Ezekiel once came to announce the city’s ruin, and now the glory comes to dwell.

The second is the vision “by the river Chebar”, a river of Mesopotamia, where God first showed Ezekiel his glory and called him to be a prophet (Ezekiel 1). The glory that called him and the glory that left in judgment are the glory that now returns. God is the same in his holiness and in his mercy, and this vision of restoration carries the same authority as the visions of judgment that came true.

Why did Ezekiel fall on his face?

Ezekiel fell on his face in awe, humility and submission before the majesty and holiness of God. nâphal is the ordinary word to fall. The word for face, pânîym, is the same word that gives the gate its “prospect” toward the east in verse 4, so the gate faces the coming glory and the prophet’s face goes to the ground before it. Falling prostrate is how people in Scripture meet the holy God. Isaiah saw the Lord on his throne and cried out over his own uncleanness (Isaiah 6:1–5), and John fell at the feet of the risen Christ as though dead (Revelation 1:17). Ezekiel has seen this glory twice already, and it still brings him to the ground.

The glory fills the house

“And the glory of the LORD came into the house.” The house is bayith, a word for a house of every kind, which here means the temple, the dwelling place of God. The glory takes the path the vision has prepared, through the gate that faces east, and comes in.

Then “the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court”. The Spirit is rûwach, a word that means wind, breath and spirit, and “took me up” is nâsâʼ, to lift. The Spirit lifted Ezekiel in the same way early in his ministry (Ezekiel 3:14), and he has carried him through the whole book, from his call by the Chebar to the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37). “Brought” in this verse is bôwʼ, the verb used for the glory’s coming, while the “brought” of verse 1 is yâlak.

The inner court is châtsêr, a yard enclosed by a fence, with pᵉnîymîy, interior or inner. It was the court closest to the house, where the altar of burnt offering stood, set apart for the priests. From there Ezekiel sees the glory up close.

“And, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.” The verb mâlêʼ means to fill or to be full of. The glory filled every part of the house, as it had filled the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple, and God’s return was complete. The chapter goes on to the law of the house, which calls for holiness in the place where God lives (Ezekiel 43:10–12), because the holy God has made it his home.

The LORD speaks from his house

“And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house.” The one speaking is the LORD himself, whose glory has just filled the house. The verb is dâbar, to speak, and the voice comes from inside, from the place of his presence. God has taken up his dwelling again, and he speaks from it. Long before, God promised Moses that he would speak with him from above the mercy seat (Exodus 25:22), and Isaiah, after seeing the Lord’s glory, heard his voice calling (Isaiah 6:8). Where God’s glory dwells, his voice is heard. The words that follow in Ezekiel 43:7 begin the LORD’s instructions for his house and his people.

“And the man stood by me.” The word is ʼîysh, a man as an individual. Here he is the angelic guide who has walked with Ezekiel since the vision began, the man with a linen cord and a measuring rod (Ezekiel 40:3). He measured the temple and explained what Ezekiel saw. Now he stands beside the prophet while the voice comes from the house, so the guide stays near as the LORD himself speaks.

Is Ezekiel’s temple meant to be built?

These chapters promise, on every reading, that God will have a pure dwelling among his people and will live there with them. Believers differ on what kind of house Ezekiel saw in Ezekiel 40–48.

  • A temple still to be built. Some believers hold that it is a plan for a real temple to be built in a restored Israel during the millennial reign of Christ. On this reading the exact measurements, the architecture and the rules for sacrifice are given because they will be carried out.
  • A picture of perfected worship. Others hold that the temple pictures the ideal worship of God’s people under his rule. On this reading the vision is fulfilled in Christ and his church, and finally in the New Jerusalem, where God dwells with his people.
  • Both together. Others see real details in the vision that point to a spiritual reality.

On each reading the heart of these six verses is the same. The God who left has come back, and he means to stay.

Christ, the dwelling place of God’s glory

The glory Ezekiel saw entering the house came to live among us in a person. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus spoke of his own body as the temple that would be destroyed and raised up (John 2:19–21). “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). He is Emmanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). God, who spoke in times past by the prophets, has now spoken by his Son, the brightness of his glory (Hebrews 1:1–3).

The voice like many waters is his voice. His word stilled the storm (Mark 4:39), and the dead will hear his voice and come out of their graves (John 5:28). His sheep hear his voice and follow him (John 10:27). He called himself the door (John 10:9), and as the glory came into the house by its gate, we come to the Father through him. Jesus also said that his coming would be like the lightning that comes out of the east and shines to the west (Matthew 24:27). The earth that shone with God’s glory in Ezekiel’s vision is being lit today as the gospel goes out to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).

The house God fills now is also his people. The church is the temple of God, and his Spirit dwells in it (1 Corinthians 3:16). The body of each believer is a temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 6:19). Believers are built together on Christ, the chief corner stone, into a holy temple, a dwelling place of God through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:20–22), and as lively stones into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5).

The vision reaches its end in the new heavens and new earth. There the tabernacle of God is with men, and he dwells with them (Revelation 21:3). In the holy city the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple, the glory of God gives it light, the Lamb is its light, and the nations walk in that light (Revelation 21:22–24). Ezekiel saw the glory fill one house, and John sees it fill a whole city.

The God who comes back to dwell

Ezekiel’s first hearers had lost their land, their city and the house where God had dwelt among them, and they had lost them because of their sin. These six verses gave them God’s answer. He came back by the road he had left by, filled his house with his glory and spoke to his servant from within it. His judgment was real, and his mercy was greater still.

The same God has come near in Christ and dwells by his Spirit among his people. His glory still brings us low, as it brought Ezekiel to his face, and his voice still speaks from the place of his presence. What this passage gives us is a God who returns, who fills what he returns to, and who speaks to the people he has gathered.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Ezekiel 43:1–6.

1662–1714 · 6 verses
Passage under commentEzekiel 43:1–6

After Ezekiel has patiently surveyed the temple of God, the greatest glory of this earth, he is admitted to a higher form, and honoured with a sight of the glories of the upper world; it is said to him, Come up hither. He has seen the temple, and sees it to be very spacious and splendid; but, till the glory of God comes into it, it is but like the dead bodies he had seen in vision (ch. 37), that had no breath till the Spirit of life entered into them. Here therefore he sees the house filled with God's glory.

I.He has a vision of the glory of God (Ezekiel 43:2), the glory of the God of Israel, that God who is in covenant with Israel, and whom they serve and worship. The idols of the heathen have no glory but what they owe to the goldsmith or the painter; but this is the glory of the God of Israel. This glory came from the way of the east, and therefore he was brought to the gate that leads towards the east, to expect the appearance and approach of it. Christ's star was seen in the east, and he is that other angel that ascends out of the east, Revelation 7:2. For he is the morning star, he is the sun of righteousness. Two things he observed in this appearance of the glory of God: - 1. The power of his word which he heard: His voice was like a noise of many waters, which is heard very far, and makes impressions; the noise of purling streams is grateful, of a roaring sea dreadful, Revelation 1:15; Revelation 14:2. Christ's gospel, in the glory of which he shines, was to be proclaimed aloud, the report of it to be heard far; to some it is a savour of life, to others of death, according as they are. 2. The brightness of his appearance which he saw: The earth shone with his glory; for God is light, and none can bear the lustre of his light, none has seen nor can see it. Note, That glory of God which shines in the church shines on the world. When God appeared for David the brightness that was before him dispersed the clouds, Psalm 18:12. This appearance of the glory of God to Ezekiel he observed to be the same with the vision he saw when he first received his commission (Ezekiel 1:4), according to that by the river Chebar (Ezekiel 43:3); because God is the same, he was pleased to manifest himself in the same manner, for with him is no variableness. "It was the same" (says he) "as that which I saw when I came to destroy the city, that is, to foretel the city's destruction," which he did with such authority and efficacy, and the event did so certainly answer the prediction, that he might be said to destroy it. As a judge, in God's name, he passed a sentence upon it, which was soon executed. God appeared in the same manner when he sent him to speak words of terror and when he sent him to speak words of comfort; for in both God is and will be glorified. He kills and he makes alive; he wounds and he heals, Deuteronomy 32:39. To the same hand that destroyed we must look for deliverance. He has smitten, and he will bind up. Una eademque manus vulnus opemque tulit - The same hand inflicted the wound and healed it.

II.He has a vision of the entrance of this glory into the temple.

When he saw this glory he fell upon his face (Ezekiel 43:3), as not able to bear the lustre of God's glory, or rather as one willing to give him the glory of it by a humble and reverent adoration. But the Spirit took him up (Ezekiel 43:5) when the glory of the Lord had come into the house (Ezekiel 43:4), that he might see how the house was filled with it. He saw how the glory of the Lord in this same appearance departed from the temple, because it was profaned, to his great grief; now he shall see it return to the temple to his great satisfaction. See Ezekiel 10:18, Ezekiel 10:19; Ezekiel 11:23. Note, Though God may forsake his people for a small moment, he will return with everlasting loving-kindness. God's glory filled the house as it had filled the tabernacle which Moses set up and the temple of Solomon, Exodus 40:34; 1 Kings 8:10. Now we do not find that ever the Shechinah did in that manner take possession of the second temple, and therefore this was to have its accomplishment in that glory of the divine grace which shines so brightly in the gospel church, and fills it. Here is no mention of a cloud filling the house as formerly, for we now with open face behold the glory of the Lord, in the face of Christ, and not as of old through the cloud of types.

III.He receives instructions more immediately from the glory of the Lord, as Moses did when God had taken possession of the tabernacle (Leviticus 1:1): I heard him speaking to me out of the house, Ezekiel 43:6. God's glory shining in the church, we must thence expect to receive divine oracles. The man stood by me; we could not bear to hear the voice of God any more than to see the face of God if Jesus Christ did not stand by us as Mediator. Or, if this was a created angel, it is observable that when God began to speak to Ezekiel he stood by and gave way, having no more to say. Nay, he stood by the prophet, as a learner with him; for to the principalities and powers, to the angels themselves, who desire to look into these things, is known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, Ephesians 3:10. The man stood by him to conduct him thither where he might receive further discoveries, Ezekiel 44:1.

Historical interpretation

Historical reception

1 surviving comment on this verse from the historical church.

1 quote · AD 420
d. AD 420JeromePost-NiceneSourceCommentary on Ezekiel
(Chapter 43, verses 1 onwards) "And he brought me to the gate that faced east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his majesty. And I saw a vision like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city. And the vision that I saw was like the vision that I had seen by the river Chebar. And I fell on my face. And the majesty of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east. And the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. And I heard someone speaking to me from the house. And the man standing beside me said to me, 'Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, they and their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places, by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger.' So now they shall put far from themselves their fornication and the ruins of their kings from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever. LXX: And he brought me to the gate, which looked toward the East, and he led me out; and behold the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the East, and the voice of the camp was like the voice of many waters, and the earth shone with the brightness of the glory on every side. And the vision that I saw was like the vision that I saw when I entered to anoint the city. And the vision of the chariot that I saw was like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. And the glory of the Lord entered the house through the way of the gate that faced east. And the spirit took hold of me and brought me into the inner court, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. And I stood, and behold, a voice from the house speaking to me, and a man stood beside me and said to me: Have you seen, son of man, the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where my name shall dwell in the midst of the house of Israel forever. And they shall no longer defile the house of Israel with their idols and with their detestable things and with all their transgressions, but I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. » First, about the variety of translation, it must be said that what the Septuagint put: 'And he led me out' is not found in the Hebrew. For if he had been led to the gate facing East, why was it necessary for him to be led out, since he was brought in to see what was being done at the Eastern gate? Then, where it is said: 'The voice was to him,' no doubt it is a voice of God, like the sound of many waters, which John also confirms in his Apocalypse, the Septuagint put: 'And the voice of the camp, like the voice of many geminators' (Apoc. XIV). In the third place, it is written in Hebrew: I saw a vision according to the appearance that I had seen when he came to destroy the city. But that one came, who at the beginning of this prophet was clothed in linen, and had an ink horn at his waist, along with six others, to destroy the city, not to anoint, which the Seventy translated as: And the vision of the chariot that I had seen, which is not found in Hebrew. Let us speak separately about each one, to the extent that the difficulty of explanation allows: lest while we strive for brevity, the veil remain not only on Moses, but also on Ezekiel the prophet in us, who desire to contemplate the revealed truth of the Lord (Exod. 34; 2 Cor. 3). Therefore the glory of the God of Israel enters by the eastern way, by which it had also departed when the city of the Lord was struck by fury. It enters, or rather returns to it, because it had shown the temple of the Lord built on the mountain. And yet there is much more that is said in what follows: The spirit lifted me up and brought me into the outer court, and behold the glory of the Lord filled the house. For here is where only the glory of the God of Israel enters; but there it is said that the fullness of the glory of the Lord was in the temple, as Isaiah also writes: I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne, and the house was full of his glory (Isaiah 6:1); when we contemplate the revealed face of the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the image of the Creator. There was also the voice of God, like the voice of many waters, that is, of all the peoples in the whole world, as John the Evangelist explains (Apoc. XIV): or like the voice of armies, and like the voice of many praising God, that the army of God might know the sacraments. Jacob, understanding this, called the name of that place Camp (Genes. XXXII). And elsewhere it is written: The chariots of God are multiplied by ten thousand, thousands of rejoicers (Ps. LXVII, 18). But one voice is said to be of the camp and the multitude, because of the unanimous praise of God. And the voice of those singing is doubled for the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit: Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts, the earth is full of his glory (Isa. VI, 3). It follows: And the earth shone with his majesty (Psalm XVIII). Which properly happened at the coming of Christ; when the sound of the apostles went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world (Rom. XVIII): and it is fulfilled daily in believers, and will be fulfilled completely, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality (I Cor. XV). But the following is added: 'And I saw a vision in the likeness of the vision which I had seen when he came to destroy the city.' For which the Seventy have rendered: 'When I went in to anoint the city,' since it is clear contrary to the Hebrew; but according to the LXX it is very dark. How Ezekiel went in to anoint the city, and what was the purport of his prophecy, we have stated, unless we say, of course, that the prophet’s representation means the anointing of the city, and that the anointing with oil of joy is sacerdotal and regal, and that they become anointed of the Lord who willingly receive and hear Him to whom it is written: 'Do not touch My Christs;' and to those who touch them: 'My prophets, do not harm.' (Ps. 104:15). But he can anoint the city according to the anagoge, of which it is written: Glorious things are said of you, O city of God (Psalm 86:2); he who saw the vision of the chariot and the mysteries of God, which Ezekiel witnessed by the river Chebar, which signifies the burden and weight. For what is heavier than the Babylonian rivers, over which David sat and wept when he remembered Zion? Of which it is written: For the form of this world is passing away (Psalm 136). And I think that there is nothing perpetual in the confusion of this world, but everything passes and flows (1 Corinthians 7:31). Whoever considers this will fall on their face, understanding how far they are from the majesty of God, and will bow their knees to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. And when, he says, I had fallen, the majesty of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east, and immediately the spirit lifted me up (for I could not go on lying down), and he led me into the court of annihilation, for I had fallen outside; and behold, I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east, and I saw the glory of the Lord filling his house, and I heard a voice speaking to me from inside the house. What this is spoken about, the Scripture does not narrate, unless perhaps that of the Apostle: And I heard unspeakable words, that it is not lawful for a man to utter (2 Corinthians 12:4). But the man, he says, who stood beside the prophet, said to him: whom we clearly understand to be the Lord. For who else could it befit what follows: Son of man, the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever, except those who dwell in the Church in the midst of the children of Israel who behold God, and dwell forever, not according to the temple of Solomon for a time? And his place is the one about which it is written: And his place became peaceful (Psalm 75:2), which surpasses all understanding. And the place of his footsteps, as the Apostles say: Let us worship in the place where his feet stood (Psalm 31:7). And beautifully it is said, they stood: for the feet of the Lord stand in the Church, they walk in the synagogue and pass by. But in order that we may know that this is said about the Church, it is joined: And they will no longer defile my holy name, the house of Israel: which properly belongs to those who dwell in holy conversation in the Church. However, those who have defiled the holy name of God are more clearly specified: both their kings and their people, as well as their priests, in their own acts of fornication, through which they have fornicated with God; and in the ruins of their kings, who in vain, through pride, assume the royal name. Finally, it follows: And in high places. For an arrogant mind offends God; a humble one incites mercy. These people, after pride, or rather through pride, have fashioned their threshold next to the threshold of God, and their doorposts next to His doorposts. Let these women burdened with sins, carried about by every wind of doctrine, always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; having a form of godliness but denying its power, turn away from such people. For among them are those who creep into households and captivate weak-willed women weighed down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. And the Apostle also says: But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup (I Cor. XI, 28). And to make what he said more serious, he follows it with the verse: And there was a wall between me and them; so that a very short wall would separate the priestly sacrifices and the places of the sacraments of the body and blood of Christ. And they have polluted, he says, my holy name, in the abominations which they have committed. What is the advantage of dwelling near, and a wall, the wall of the Lord's altar, between our cell and the altar of the Lord, when in those things which we do in secret, and which it is even shameful to speak of, the name of the Lord is defiled and polluted? I think this, that the name of the Lord is not polluted, except by the one who has seen his name and believed, and is considered in his name. And just as he who previously believed in Christ pollutes the name of God, so also the one who previously accepted his name in faith pollutes it. Otherwise, the Gentile and the Jew, although they are defiled and contaminated, indeed contamination itself and pollution, cannot pollute and defile the name of God: what they pollute is attributed to them, to whom it is said, 'My name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you' (Rom. 2:24). Therefore, because of these reasons, I consumed them in my anger, because they did the things we have mentioned. And yet the merciful Lord again commands the prophets to tell them to remove their former fornications from themselves and to abandon the ruins of their kings and rulers, and to not only reject them from themselves, but also from God. And he immediately promises rewards for good deeds, saying: "And I will dwell among them," as it is written in the Gospel: "There stands among you one whom you do not know" (John 1:26). And he will dwell not for a short time, like in the Synagogue, but forever, as is confirmed in the Church of Christ.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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