He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.
Parallel translations
- WEB He measured it on the four sides: it had a wall around it, the length five hundred, and the width five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.
- BSB So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.
- NKJV He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred wide, to separate the holy areas from the common.
- NASB He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, the length five hundred rods and the width five hundred, to divide between the holy and the common.
- NLT So the area was 875 feet on each side with a wall all around it to separate what was holy from what was common.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A wall surrounded the whole area to separate the holy from the common. The boundary's purpose is to guard God's holiness.
Overview
The guide states the purpose of the encompassing wall: to make a separation between the holy and the common. This summarizes a central theme of the vision, the careful guarding of God's holiness. The wall that once divided is answered in Christ, who reconciles the holy God and sinful people, making his people themselves a holy dwelling for God (Ephesians 2:14-22).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ezek 45:2Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof.
- Ezek 40:5And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and an hand breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
- Ezek 22:26Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
- Ezek 44:23And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
- Ezek 48:15And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.
- Zech 2:5For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
- Isa 60:18Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.
- Song 2:9My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
- Isa 25:1O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
- Mic 7:11In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.
- 2 Cor 6:17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
- Rev 21:10–27And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
- Ezek 48:20All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.
- Luke 16:26And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
- Lev 10:10And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;
- Isa 26:1In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 42:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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