LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Read and pray: “To me, less than the least of all saints, this grace was given to announce to the Gentiles the gospel of the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8)
Ezekiel 41:13-15 gives us the size of the temple and the separate area in front of it and behind it: “So he measured the temple: a hundred cubits long; and the separate area, the building, and its walls: a hundred cubits long. Also the width of the front of the temple and of the separate area on the east side, on both sides, was a hundred cubits. Then he measured the length of the building that was in the separate area behind the temple, and its galleries on both sides: a hundred cubits. The temple proper, the Most Holy Place, and the vestibule of the court were paneled.”
The temple is a hundred cubits long, and the width of the front of the temple and of the separate area along the east side totals a hundred cubits. The width of the entrance pillar is twenty cubits (vv. 2, 4). The thickness of both sides of the wall is twelve cubits in total, with each side being six cubits (v. 5).
The width of the side chambers is four cubits on each side, a total of eight cubits (v. 5). The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers is five cubits on each side, a total of ten cubits (v. 9).
The width of the space left along the side chambers is five cubits on both sides, a total of ten cubits (v. 9). When we add all these, we have sixty cubits. The separate area between the side chambers belonging to the temple and the outer chambers is twenty cubits wide on both sides of the temple.
If we add all these together, we have a hundred cubits. This makes a square of a hundred cubits on each side, which means that Christ is absolutely perfect, straight, complete, and abundant as the dwelling place of God.
The width of the inner court, the front of the temple, and the area along the east side is a hundred cubits, and its length is also a hundred cubits. Thus, in this area, which has the altar as its center, there is also a square of a hundred cubits on each side.
This is another indication that Christ is perfect, straight, and complete and that He is fully qualified to be used by God to carry out His work of redemption.
The separate area with the building at the back and its wall is a hundred cubits long (v. 13). The width of the building along the front of the separate area behind it, with a gallery on each side, is also a hundred cubits (v. 15).
Here at the back of the temple, we have another square of a hundred cubits on each side. This is another indication that Christ is perfect, straight, and complete. He is more than sufficient to satisfy all the needs of both God and man, with an abundant surplus remaining. The surplus of Christ is certainly abundant.
This wonderful arrangement reveals the wisdom of our God. In total, we have three plots of land, which are a hundred cubits square. This indicates that in the Triune God there are a hundredfold complete squares and a hundredfold abundant surpluses.
I ask you to use the diagram¹ of the temple plan on page 215 to consider the entire area of the temple and of the inner and outer courts. Added together, the length of the east gate leading to the outer court (40:6-16) and the length of the east gate leading to the inner court (vv. 32-34) equals one hundred cubits.
The outer court is also one hundred cubits in length from the outer gate to the inner gate. The inner court is one hundred cubits in length; the temple itself is one hundred cubits in length; and the length of the separate area and the building at the rear is also one hundred cubits.
When we add these five parts, we have a total of five hundred cubits. This refers to Christ’s situation before God. As the gate, He is one hundred percent perfect; as the outer court, He is one hundred percent perfect; also as the inner court, He is one hundred percent perfect; as the temple itself, He is one hundred percent perfect; and, as the abundant surplus, He is also one hundred percent perfect.
Christ, who is absolutely perfect in every way, is one hundred times five. We need to remember that five is the number of responsibility. Thus, for us, Christ bears the total responsibility before God one hundred percent. This is a picture of the integrity, uprightness, and surplus of Christ.
His integrity, uprightness, and the surplus are perfect, being derived from God and in resurrection. In bearing the responsibility for us before God, Christ is complete, perfect, and an impeccable testimony to God.
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¹ Unfortunately, we do not have the figures of this material.
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