The Millennial Temple - Ezekiel 40:5-43:27 Taken from Footsteps of the Messiah, by Arnold Fruchtenbaum, pages 450-452
Ezekiel 37:26-28 prophesies that God’s sanctuary will be placed in the midst of Israel:
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah that sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
There is a great expansion and elaboration of these few verses in Ezekiel 40:5-43:27. The study of this lengthy passage will need to be limited to a survey of the material given by Ezekiel, emphasizing only a few important features. There are eight main sections which discuss the various facets of the Millennial Temple.
The first section, in Ezekiel 40:5-27, concerns the outer court. After the measurement of the outer wall (v. 5), Ezekiel gives a description of the outer court (vv. 6-27), mentioning the eastern gate (vv. 6-16), the thirty chambers and the pavement around the outer court (vv. 17-19), the northern gate (vv. 20-23), and the southern gate (vv. 24-27).
The second section has a description of the inner court, in Ezekiel 40:28-47. Four items are described. The first is the gates of the inner court (vv. 28-37), composed of the southern gate area (vv. 28-31), the eastern gate area (vv. 32-34), and the northern gate area (vv. 35-37); second, the table for the preparing of the sacrifices (vv. 38-43); third, the chambers for the ministering priests (vv. 44-46); and fourth, the altar (v. 47).
The third section describes the Millennial Temple itself, in Ezekiel 40:48-41:26. Included in this description are the porch (vv. 48-49), the posts (v. 1), the holy place with its entrance (v. 2), the Holy of Holies (vv. 3-4), the temple wall and chambers (vv. 5-11), the separate place (vv. 12-14), the interior (vv. 15-20) and the exterior of the temple (vv. 21-26). From all these various measurements, it is obvious that this particular temple will be larger than all previous temples, measuring about one mile square. The area of the present temple compound is not large enough to hold the temple described by Ezekiel and will require some major geographical changes. That is why the new mountain of Jehovah’s house will be necessary.
The fourth section, Ezekiel 42:1-14, describes the chambers of the outer court
The fifth section, Ezekiel 42:15-20, describes the outer wall
The sixth section is Ezekiel 43:1-9. It records the return of the Shechinah glory. Just as the Shechinah authenticated and sanctioned the Solomonic Temple, it will also sanction this temple by its return from the same direction that it left (vv. 1-5). Once the Shechinah returns, it will declare a message promising to never depart from Israel again, but to dwell in her midst forever (vv. 6-9).[58]
The seventh section, Ezekiel 43:10-12, contains a command to the prophet to point out the sinfulness of Israel. In light of the coming holy oblation, how much more should Israel be ashamed of her present sinfulness. The eighth section contains a description of the altar, in Ezekiel 43:13-27. Included in this description are the measurements of the altar (vv. 13-17) and its consecration (vv. 18-23).
This, then, is the Millennial Temple that is to be the center of Jewish and Gentile worship during the millennium.
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Note that this 4th Temple. The Millennial Temple is sanctioned by the return of the Shechinah Glory. God never sanctions the 3rd Temple that Israel constructs on its own. God will never dwell in the 3rd Temple
