And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.
And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch ... These two verses belong to Ezekiel 41:1-26, which treats of the temple itself.
The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits. In Solomon's temple the porch was (1 Kings 6:3) "twenty cubits ... length, ten cubits was the breadth." The breadth perhaps was ten and a half; 1 Kings 6:3 designates the number by the lesser next round number, "ten;" Ezekiel here, by the larger number, "eleven" (Menochius). The Septuagint read 'twelve.'
He brought me by the steps - they were ten in number (Septuagint).
Remarks:
(1) The vision, beginning here and continued to the end of this book, is one impossible as yet to understand fully, and for the clear explanation of which we must wait until the event makes the whole plain. There are difficulties about a literal interpretation; but these may all vanish when the fulfillment takes place: and there is the great difficulty about explaining the whole figuratively, that thus the minute and accurate details seem meaningless and needless; whereas faith assures us that all the most minute parts of God's Word have their purpose and aim. We are sure of this much, that the ideal temple here described sets forth in all its parts and its services the worship of Messiah, as the Israelites in their own land shall celebrate it, when He shall reign at Jerusalem, on His return in glory over not only Israel but all the earth (Jeremiah 3:16-18).
(2) Doubtless, the return to literal sacrifices would seem to be a return to the beggarly elements of legal types after we have gotten the Antitype. "By one offering Christ hath perfected forever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14. And God hath said of all believers in Jesus, "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now, where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin" (Hebrews 10:17-18). The virtual ignoring of this truth in our present dispensation is one of the greatest heresies of Rome; for, by her oft-repeated sacrifice of the mass, she implies that Christ's one sacrifice is not a full and everlasting atonement, but needs her daily sacrifices to be added to it. We are sure, therefore, that the temple-sacrifices in restored Jerusalem (Ezekiel 40:39; Ezekiel 43:19-27), of whatever nature they may be, will not set aside this fixed principle, though we do not yet see how the two Scripture statements are to be harmonized. Two considerations may, in the meantime, help to lessen the difficulty:
(a) The Jews, as a nation, stand to God in a special relation, distinct from that of us Christians of the present elect Church, gathered out of Jews and Gentiles indiscriminately. The same principle, therefore, of the non-existence of sacrifice in any form may not hold good in that dispensation, to be ushered in by the advent of Messiah and his reign over the restored Israelite nation as holds good in our present Gentile times. That shall be the period of public liturgy, or perfect outward worship of the great congregation on earth, as the present time is one of gathering out spiritual worshippers one by one. Besides Israel's relation to Christ as her spiritual Saviour, she will then also perform a perfect outward service of sacrifice, prayer, and praise, as a nation, to her manifested Divine King reigning in the midst of her; and all nations of the earth shall take a part in that service, as recognizing His Divine Kingship over themselves also.
(b) The Israelites shall probably also set forth, in all its harmonious parts, the outward beauty and inward sanctity of the temple service, which, in their palmiest days of old, they had never exhibited in its full perfection. Thus Christ's word shall be fulfilled, that "till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law until all be fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18). The full excellence and antitypical perfection of all the parts of the ancient temple service, which, from ignorance of its hidden meaning, seemed a cumbersome yoke, and unintelligible to the worshippers, shall then be fully understood, and therefore shall become a delightful service of love, instead of as formerly a burdensome task. To set forth this, and not to invalidate the principle of the Epistle to the Hebrews, that after Christ's perfect sacrifice no further propitiation is needed, is probably one object of the temple liturgy which shall be. Israel's province will be to exhibit in the minutest details of sacrifice, the essential unity of the Law and Gospel, which now seem opposed. The ideal of the theocratic temple and its service shall then first be realized.
(3) When things hard to be understood come in our way in studying Scripture let us pray, and wait patiently God's own time for revealing the meaning. It would not be a revelation if there were not some things therein which are beyond our comprehension now, and which form tests of faith whether we will bow our reason before the Word of God, and humbly confess our ignorance, and adore God's infinite wisdom in the mighty scheme of redemption. Blessed be His holy name, if there be deep waters in which an elephant may swim, there are the healing waters of salvation in which the lamb may wade. Our salvation does not depend on clearing up the abstruse parts of the Bible: all that is necessary for salvation is so plain that "the wayfaring men," however simple, "shall not err therein" (Isaiah 35:8).