It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.
The prince - not King Messiah, as He would not be likely to offer a burnt offering, as the prince is to do (Ezekiel 46:4). The prince must mean the civil ruler under MESSIAH. His connection with the east gate (by which the Lord had returned to His temple) implies that, as ruling under God, he is to stand in a place of special nearness to God. He represents Messiah, who entered heaven, the true sanctuary, by a way that none other could-namely, by His own holiness; all others must enter as sinners, by faith in His blood, through grace.
He shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord - a custom connected with sacrifices (Genesis 31:54 ; Exodus 18:12 ; Exodus 24:11 ; 1 Corinthians 10:18).