The East Gate and its Threshold (1)
Ezekiel’s temple • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Scripture reading: Ezek. 40:6
Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.
CG lessons 14-15.
Introduction
This morning’s study comes from the 11th book of the History of Redemption Series, which looks at Ezekiel’s Temple. It’s not his temple, but the temple that he saw in a vision God gave him. And in that vision, God guides him through 25 places in the temple. Last week Pastor Sam took us through the outer wall that surrounds the temple. That was the first place. Today we are looking at the second place, which is the east gate, including the guardrooms within, and its inner and outer thresholds.
Significance of the gate
Significance of the gate
So what’s the significance of the gate?
We saw that the wall surrounding Ezekiel’s temple was six long cubits tall, and six long cubits thick. That’s 3.192 metres in height and thickness.
Ezekiel 40:5 (ESV)
… So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed.
Six cubits tall (3.192m)
Six cubits wide (3.192m)
And these measurements are both physical and symbolic. This huge thick wall is the unbreachable chasm that separates the holy from the non-holy.
But we can give thanks because by His grace, God has opened our eyes to the gate.
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
The size of the gate
The size of the gate
And how tall is the gate in Ezekiel’s temple? 60 cubits high.
He measured also the vestibule, sixty cubits. And around the vestibule of the gateway was the court.
60 cubits = 31.92m
The gate facing east is 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide, which is the exact same measurement as the north and south gates.
From the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits.
Then he measured the gate from the ceiling of the one side room to the ceiling of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; the openings faced each other.
The Steps of the Outer Gate facing East
The Steps of the Outer Gate facing East
Now, the Bible doesn’t say how many steps there are for the east gate. But it does say that the south gate has seven steps.
And there were seven steps leading up to it, and its vestibule was before them, and it had palm trees on its jambs, one on either side.
So given that the temple design inclines toward symmetry and evenness, we can speculate that the east gate also has seven steps.
What do these steps represent? It’s about going up to a higher elevation. In fact, we can think of our journey of faith as a journey of going up these steps. Our prayer life, our life of abiding in Jesus, of serving God and loving others. All of these are measured as going up the steps. And there’s no shortcut, no elevator or escalator. We have to climb the steps, one step at a time. So I pray that we will climb the steps of faith, and reach the entrance to Ezekiel’s temple.
Threshold of the gate
Threshold of the gate
So after you climb the seven steps, you’re going to be standing on a threshold between the last step and the actual door. That threshold is called miftan.
Miftan in the Ancient Near East would have these raised strips at the bottom of the doorway. And they did two things. They would block dust from the ground from coming in, and they would signify a division of space between one room and another. So if you cross over it, you’ve now entered a new area.
And although the miftan is not explicitly described for the outer gate, it’s description appears regarding the inner gate. And since the outer and inner gates are the same, we can say that the outer gate also has this miftan threshold.
The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening.
Threshold (מִפְתָּן / miftan)
6 cubits long (3.192m)
So you’re standing on this miftan threshold. You can really impress St. Peter when you get there and tell him, “Oh, this miftan is very clean!”
And then you’re going to walk through the gateway or you might just call it a door. And the word for this gateway is petah hashaar, which means “opening” or “doorway”.
Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits.
Gateway (פֶּֽתַח־הַשַּׁ֖עַר / petah hashaar): Opening, doorway.
Patah (פתח) = to open.
Width: 10 cubits (5.32m)
Length: 13 cubits (6.92m)
And the Bible tells us that these doors could be opened or shut.
Ezekiel 46:12 (ESV)
…Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be shut.
So you’re going to climb the seven steps. You’re going to walk across the miftan threshold and through the petah-hashaar doorway. And as you’ve passed the doorway, you’re walking through the depth of the doorway. That depth is called saf.
Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.
Threshold (סַף / saf)
Doorframe, lintel, threshold
Width: One rod (six cubits)
And so this saf threshold comes after the miftan threshold.
Significance of Guardrooms in the gate
Significance of Guardrooms in the gate
Now let’s look at the guardrooms in the gate. And as we think about these guardrooms, we can think of the promise Jesus made to us.
In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
If you go looking for a new house, the room you would be most interested in is your room. So who would be in the guardrooms? The ministers in the sanctuary.
They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them.
The job of the gatekeepers was to protect and preserve the holiness of God’s temple. How? By rejecting those who are uncircumcised.
“Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.
And circumcision in the Old Testament is transposed to baptism in the New Testament. Only those who have been baptized in the circumcision of Christ can enter in through the gate.
In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Location of the guardrooms
Location of the guardrooms
So where are the guardrooms located?
When you get to this temple, you’re going to pass through the outer threshold of the east gate, that’s about 3.192 metres, and you’re going to find yourself in a long corridor of about 28 cubits or 15 metres (14.876m). And you’re going to see three guardrooms on the left and three guardrooms on the right.
And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. The three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size.
*Cross section image of the gate*
So six guardrooms for one gate. And since Ezekiel’s temple has six gates, three outer gates facing north south and east, and three inner gates facing north south and east, that makes for a total of 36 guardrooms in Ezekiel’s Temple.
6 guard rooms x 6 gates = 36 guardrooms in Ezekiel’s Temple
And having guardrooms in the gates isn’t a new design. Before the Babylonian exile, most of the city gates in Israel had guardrooms inside. And the more important a city, the more number of guardrooms in its gates. An important city, for example, would have three pairs of guardrooms. So what this tells us is that Ezekiel’s temple is of the highest authority and significance.
The size of the guardrooms
The size of the guardrooms
The guardrooms were all the same size.
And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. The three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size.
And the side rooms, one reed long and one reed broad; and the space between the side rooms, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end, one reed.
And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. The three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size.
1 reed = 6 cubits
Six cubits long
Six cubits wide
So what does this mean? I was still in London when my parents moved to their new place. And so my sister rushed in and called dibs on the bigger room. But when we get to Ezekiel’s Temple, there’s no need to rush. The rooms are all going to be the same size.
The barrier walls in front of the guardrooms
The barrier walls in front of the guardrooms
There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side. And the side rooms were six cubits on either side.
Barrier wall (גְּבוּל / gebul) = border, boundary
1 cubit wide
This gebul is a little curb in the guardroom that serves as a borderline between the guardroom and the corridor
Included as part of the guardroom’s six cubits.
Since the description of the barrier wall comes right before the description that each guardroom’s length and width is 6 cubits, we can infer that the 1 cubit wide barrier wall is within the guardroom as part of its 6 cubits sq2 real estate.
The barrier wall separates the corridor and the guardrooms. If not for this barrier wall, there would be nothing between the guardroom and the hallway corridor. And this barrier wall is 1 cubit wide.