The Porch of the House. The front of the temple-porch (see G, Plan I) consisted of a central opening with two columns on either side. Two columns with the space between them were called “a post of the gate.” “The breadth of the gate” on either side was a side opening, that is, the opening between two columns. The columns having bases of a cubit square, two columns and the “breadth of the gate,” which we are told was three cubits, made up the “five cubits” on either side the central entrance, which, like the entrance into the temple itself, was ten cubits. Thus we have twenty cubits for the porch-front.
The porch of Solomon’s Temple was twenty cubits broad and ten deep 1 Kings 6:3. This corresponds nearly with the dimensions of Ezekiel’s porch; the difference in the breadth may be explained by supposing a space of one cubit in front of the porch (as Ezekiel 40:11-12). The circumstance of this porch being approached by stairs of probably ten steps makes this more probable, a small space in front of the porch being naturally required.
Pillars by the posts - literally, to “the posts,” meaning that upon the bases (posts) stood shafts (pillars). These shafts were probably in the form of palm-trees Ezekiel 40:16. The porch with its steps must have jutted into the inner court.