Ezekiel 45:3, commentary and pictures

The verse sets apart a measured portion twenty-five thousand by ten thousand in which the sanctuary with its most holy place was to stand. It belongs to the vision of sanctuary, city, glory and division of the land shown to Ezekiel in captivity after Jerusalem's sanctuary was destroyed, as a pattern of another sanctuary offered to Israel where they then were. The sanctuary and restoration were a conditional promise for the past Mosaic dispensation when the Levitical priesthood was in force, to be given only if Israel became ashamed of iniquity, repented and returned to God in wholehearted obedience. Israel continued in apostasy and refused to repent, so the temple of those measurements was never built as intended, and its literal details with thousands of animal sacrifices will never be fulfilled, since to renew them would annul Christ's once-for-all offering. Because Israel was unwilling, the forfeited privileges will be fulfilled not in those literal details but to the true Israel in the glory of Christ's second coming and in the holy city prepared in heaven to descend to earth as the New Jerusalem.

Verse Text and Context

The measured portion is twenty-five thousand in length by ten thousand in breadth, and inside that measured area are to be the sanctuary and the most holy place. It is part of the sanctuary prophecy of a building called by the word sanctuary, a building with two holy places including a most holy place of stated size. That sanctuary was offered to the house of Israel where they then were, on condition that they become ashamed for their iniquities and turn from them, with the promise that God would establish the sanctuary and bring back the twelve tribes if they fulfilled the condition. Because the prophecy was conditional on Israel's acceptance or rejection, that sanctuary will never be built. The offer was connected with the going up of all who chose when the decree for Israel's restoration under Cyrus went forth.

The verse belongs to the vision in Ezekiel 36-48, especially Ezekiel 40-48, concerning the city and sanctuary, its offerings, its glory, and the division of the land, placing the sanctuary and most holy place within a measured area in the land. It belongs to the promises offered to Israel at the restoration from the seventy years in Babylon, of a new and greater restoration God would have carried out if the people yielded to Him in shame and full repentance and met the conditions of His promises. Because Israel according to the flesh did not yield to God but continued in unrepented sin, the literal details of the sanctuary measure will never be fulfilled and the promises were not fulfilled in their fullness, only about forty thousand returning from Babylon. That vision is a conditional promise whose fulfillment was forfeited, not a prediction of the New Jerusalem or a future restoration of the Jewish people, and its sanctuary and sacrificial arrangements do not establish a system to be revived after Christ's heavenly ministry closes. No such city or sanctuary stands today, and renewing its thousands of sheep and oxen sacrifices would make the once-for-all offering of Christ of none effect, building again what was destroyed and returning from sunlight to shadow, since the former offerings belonged to the time then present and only shadowed forth the one effectual offering of Jesus Christ.

The vision was given while the Hebrews were in captivity at Babylon, fourteen years after Jerusalem's sanctuary was destroyed, as a pattern of another sanctuary offered to the house of Israel where they then were. It offered to restore them to their own land and give them again a city and a temple under circumstances of wonderful glory. The chapter is treated as a proposed plan for Israel's return and restoration, not as a description of the immortal state or the gospel age.

The closing chapters predict the building of a greater temple, a greater and glorious temple as the center of a restored Jerusalem, but do not explain how its construction would take place. The passage does not explain the specific measurements or sanctuary divisions in this verse, and gives no separate explanation of the measurements in the verse or further explanation of this verse beyond its place in describing part of what the Lord would do for His people if they yielded to Him. This temple and its service belong to the period before the Christian dispensation, because its priesthood is Levitical, and therefore this temple was not to be built after that dispensation began.

Conditional Promise to Israel

The sanctuary with its measured precinct, the city, and the whole restoration set forth in Ezekiel 40-48 were a conditional promise offered to Israel for their return from captivity. That offer belonged to the past Mosaic dispensation when the Levitical priesthood and its ordinances were in force, not to the immortal state or the gospel age. The temple and its service belonged to the period before the Christian dispensation because its priesthood is Levitical, and the sanctuary where sacrifices would be offered was never built because the conditions were not met. What was built after the Babylonian captivity was only a shadow of it.

The establishment of that sanctuary depended on the people becoming ashamed of their iniquities and sins and putting them away. The promise was conditioned on Israel putting away wickedness, returning wholeheartedly from captivity, and yielding to God in shame and full repentance with faith and obedience. Because Israel according to the flesh did not yield to God, the literal details of the sanctuary measure will never be fulfilled.

If the people had turned from their iniquities, God would have established the sanctuary and brought back the twelve tribes. The sanctuary and temple would have been rebuilt in their land more glorious than before, bringing the people great glory with God's presence continually manifest among them and His glory resting on the city. But the offer was conditional and the condition was disregarded, so the offered glory was never inherited by them. Because they continued in apostasy and refused to repent and return to God wholeheartedly, the temple of Ezekiel's measurements was never built as intended. Many did not go up when Cyrus offered restoration, and because the people failed to do their part only about forty thousand returned from Babylon, so the promises were not fulfilled in their fullness. Its promises were therefore only weakly realized in the temple built by Zerubbabel, which fell far short of Ezekiel's pattern and was inferior, smaller, and only a shadow or small part of what was promised.

No Literal Future Temple

The measured sanctuary precinct of twenty-five thousand by ten thousand belongs to the temple and city vision of Ezekiel 40-48, and that temple was never built and will never be built literally, neither after the Christian dispensation began nor after Christ's heavenly ministry closes. Its literal fulfillment belonged to the Mosaic dispensation when the Levitical priesthood and its ordinances were in force, because its priesthood is Levitical, and it would have been fulfilled then if Israel had become ashamed of sins, put them away, and yielded to God in faith, obedience, shame and full repentance upon restoration from the seventy years in Babylon. Because fleshly Israel did not meet those conditions of faith and obedience, the temple and its attendant sacrifices will never be fulfilled as offered, and its prescribed sacrifices show it is not a temple God would ordain again. The promise forfeited in its literal details will be fulfilled to the true Israel not in those details but according to later revelation, with future glory and the full immortal inheritance given to the faithful in fullest measure.

It has not been fulfilled, for no such city or sanctuary stands today, and its sacrifices show it had its application before Christ came, when the types met their antitype. The prophecy was not fulfilled then because Israel did not meet its conditions, so its promises were not realized. It will not be fulfilled literally as a future Jewish restoration, a prediction of the New Jerusalem, a temple for the gospel age or the immortal state, or a revived system after Christ's work, but was a proposed plan for Israel's return and restoration given fourteen years after Jerusalem's sanctuary was destroyed, whose specific measurements and sanctuary divisions belong to that conditional offer now forfeited. One reading presents the same vision as a city for a future age, with offerings and sacrifices carried on there, placing the sanctuary and most holy place within the measured area.

Renewing its thousands of sheep and oxen sacrifices would make Christ's once-for-all offering of none effect, building again what was destroyed and returning from sunlight to shadow. Those former offerings belonged to the time then present and only shadowed forth the one effectual offering of Jesus Christ, so they could not continue without setting aside and annulling the sacrifice Christ offered. Because the people continued in apostasy and were not ashamed and did not put away iniquity, the glorious temple of Ezekiel's measurements was not built and never will be built literally, with only a temple bearing a weak shadow of its greatness erected by Zerubbabel. Its animal offerings and Levitical service cannot be ordained again or fulfilled in the future, even as a type or later symbolic atonement for sins already dealt with in fact, because animal offerings are no longer acceptable even as a type, having been fulfilled by Jesus to whom they pointed and caused to cease by His death on the cross.

Spiritual and Ultimate Fulfillment

Because Israel was unwilling to return wholeheartedly from captivity, the prophecy of the temple and its sacred precincts, including the sanctuary and most holy place within its measured area, also stands in a spiritual sense for greater things God will do for His people through Christ. It was a faint type of God's future work, to be fulfilled in general rather than in every detail. The conditional promise running from Ezekiel 36 onward offered the raising of the righteous dead, the subjection of the kings of the North and all enemies far and near, a new temple with holy precincts set apart by stated dimensions, a new division of the land, and life and healing power coming down upon Palestine and the earth as never before, conditioned on Israel putting away wickedness and being ashamed of iniquities. Since Israel according to the flesh was not ashamed, did not put away iniquity, and did not yield to God in shame and full repentance, the glorious temple of those measurements was not built and its literal details will never be fulfilled, only a temple bearing a shadow of its greatness being erected by Zerubbabel. The promise will be fulfilled to the true Israel not in those literal details but according to later revelation, with future glory and the full immortal inheritance given to the faithful in fullest measure.

What was forfeited for earthly Jerusalem is to be realized in the New City, for God will fulfill His promises to His people in Christ in the new heaven and new earth whose capital is the New Jerusalem. The vision belonged to God's proposed future for Jerusalem with a temple greater than Solomon's made holy by His presence, depending on the people putting away sins; because they failed and unrepented sin prevented its fulfillment as described, its promised privileges were forfeited for earthly Jerusalem and are to be realized in the New City. God's purpose did not change though the city and sanctuary shown during the Babylonian captivity were never built because the people failed to respond to the calls to leave Babylon, and He prepared the holy city in heaven to descend to earth. Its greater fulfillment belongs to the glory of Christ's second coming and related events, not to a return of the local conditions of Ezekiel's day, the restoration temple having been reduced to the smaller one built by Zerubbabel so that the prophecy was fulfilled only in a small part. Those promises faintly typify what God will restore in the new heavens and new earth by His mighty power, since the death of Jesus Christ on the cross fulfilled all sacrifices.

The pattern of the glorious temple as the center of a restored Jerusalem taught that the Lord's presence would dwell there and bring life and healing to the land and waters. That temple was never built and will not be built because Israel did not yield itself fully to God so He could not dwell among them, and the temple built after the return from Babylon fell far short of the pattern. The promised restoration with the land divided and a sanctuary set within it would have brought the people great glory and made God's presence continually manifest among them. Israel might have built on earth a grand and magnificent temple at Jerusalem after captivity if God's people had met the conditions for the Messiah's kingdom to be established there, which would ultimately have become the house of prayer for all nations.

Doctrinal Lessons and Applications

The measured length of twenty-five thousand and breadth of ten thousand for the sanctuary and most holy place shows that God is a God of order. The offerings connected with that measured sanctuary include those that a mortal prince was required to make for himself. That mortal prince is distinct from Jesus Christ, who is Himself the great sin offering, and Christ's death caused those sacrificial offerings to cease. The larger vision of Ezekiel 40-48, to which this measure belongs, was offered while the Hebrews were in captivity at Babylon as a restoration to their own land with a city and temple under circumstances of wonderful glory. That offer was conditional and the condition was disregarded, so the offered glory was never inherited by them. That same vision contains several allusions to the Sabbath of the Lord and to the festivals of the Hebrews.