Ezekiel 46:22
In the four corners of the court there were courts joined of forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four corners were of one measure. In the four corners of the court there were courts joined of forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four corners were of one measure.
In the four corners of the court were enclosed courts forty cubits long and thirty broad, all four alike and of one equal measure. It belongs to the detailed vision of Ezekiel 40 to 48 of a sanctuary with its offerings and service, a city and the division of the land, shown to Israel in Babylonian captivity as a house God offered to give them, measured by a man with the appearance of brass with line and reed as Jerusalem is measured in Zechariah 2. It describes the earthly Mosaic order then in force, with sacrifices and sin offerings of bulls and goats by the sons of Levi and allusions to Sabbath and festivals, not the order of the world to come. The vision was a conditional promise of restoration on condition that Israel be ashamed of iniquities, put them away and obey fully, but Israel did not meet the conditions and forfeited its privileges, so it failed for old earthly Jerusalem then. The sanctuary, courts, city and kingdom as described were never built and never literally came into operation, and cannot now be built literally, for its thousands of sheep, oxen, bulls and goats shadowed forth Christ, and to renew them after His once-for-all offering would make His offering of none effect and return from sunlight to shadow. It does not describe the New Jerusalem of Revelation or a future restoration of the Jewish people and Levitical system, for its priests are dying Levites who marry and its prince is a frail mortal who offers a sin offering for himself, unlike Christ the Prince; what failed for old Jerusalem will be grandly realized in substance as a type of greater spiritual things through Christ at the second coming, in the New City for the true Israel of God in the new heavens and new earth.
Courts and Vision Setting
In the four corners of the court there were joined courts forty cubits long and thirty broad, all four of one measure, alike and equal in size, each forty by thirty. They were the four corner courts of the temple court in the sanctuary vision.
The verse belongs to the detailed vision of Ezekiel 40 to 48 concerning a sanctuary and its offerings and service, with its glory, a city, and the division of the land. It was shown to Israel while captive in Babylon as a building God offered to give them, a glorious temple at the center of a restored Jerusalem with a city and temple under circumstances of wonderful glory. The vision features a man with the appearance of brass holding a line of flax in his hand and a measuring reed, who measures the temple and the city of God. He matches the man with a measuring line in his hand who measures the breadth and length of Jerusalem in Zechariah 2, and the vision covering the same period and same purpose of God toward Jerusalem is the counterpart to it.
It describes an earthly order of worship then in force, the Mosaic dispensation, including sacrifices, offerings, and sin offerings of bulls and goats by the sons of Levi as part of the sanctuary service, with allusions to the Sabbath of the Lord and to the festivals of the Hebrews, not the order of the world to come. No such city or sanctuary with such courts stands today. No separate explanation is given of the corner courts themselves, their measurements beyond their size and likeness, or of how the work of the greater temple predicted in the closing chapters would be carried out.
Conditional Prophecy Unfulfilled
Ezekiel 46:22 belongs to the city and sanctuary vision of Ezekiel 40-48, which was a conditional prophecy and conditional promise of restoration offered to Israel while captive in Babylon. The condition was that Israel be ashamed of iniquities, put them away, return wholeheartedly, obey, yield fully to God, follow His plan, and come up to the full measure of children of God. Because Israel did not meet the conditions, its privileges were forfeited and the prophecy failed for old earthly Jerusalem then.
The sanctuary, temple, courts, city, and kingdom as described were never built and never literally came into operation, and never will be built literally. No such city or sanctuary with such courts stands today, so the description has not been fulfilled literally. The temple erected after the return from Babylon by Zerubbabel was only a lesser, shadow-like, weak and diminished realization that fell far short of the pattern and its promised glory, displaying that glory only in Jesus Christ.
Israel's failure is shown in that they were not at all ashamed when they committed abomination but continued in apostasy. When the decree for restoration went forth not all went up to the land where blessing was promised, with only about forty thousand returning from captivity, so the promises were not realized in fullness. Israel did not yield fully to God, so Jerusalem was not restored as described and God did not dwell among the people in the promised way.
Had the conditions been complied with, the vision would have been literally fulfilled in the restoration from Babylon and in the Mosaic dispensation. Then circumcision, divorce, distinction in meats, offerings of beasts, the Jubilee, and the Levitical priesthood were in force. God would have brought back all His scattered people from the nations, restored them to the mountains of Israel, dwelt among them with glory greater than ever seen, built a new and far greater sanctuary among them, rested His glory on the city, given them victory over enemies, made His glory manifest through them in the sight of the nations, and gradually established His kingdom on earth.
It cannot now be built literally or fulfilled in literal detail, because its thousands of sheep, oxen, bulls, and goats belonged to the time then present shadowing forth Christ. To renew them after Christ's once-for-all offering would make His offering of none effect, build again what was destroyed, return from sunlight to shadow, and annul what He fulfilled on the cross. Its prescribed sacrifices show that this was not a temple God would ordain again.
It does not describe the New Jerusalem of Revelation, the future glorified age, or a future restoration of the Jewish people and Levitical system, as age-to-come proponents expect of a future city with offerings taking the place of the heavenly Jerusalem. Similarity to John's vision does not prove identity, for dissimilarities forbid it. Its priests are all Levites who marry and can die, and its prince is a poor frail mortal who offers a sin offering for himself and is restricted in possession and inheritance, unlike Christ the Prince and Shepherd, while marriage, divorce, widows, and death are unknown in the age to come.
What failed for old earthly Jerusalem will be grandly realized in substance but not in every local detail. As a type in broad promises rather than exact details, it stands as a prophecy of greater spiritual things through Christ, to be fulfilled at the second coming, in the New City for the true Israel of God, in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and in the new heavens and new earth, with far greater conditions and more glorious peace and restoration. The holy city will instead be prepared in heaven and descend to earth, and its promises were only partially realized, faintly typical of that restoration.