The ledge shall also be square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, with a rim of half a cubit and a gutter of a cubit all around it. The steps of the altar shall face east.”
Parallel translations
- WEB The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide in its four sides; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and its bottom shall be a cubit around; and its steps shall look toward the east.
- KJV And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about; and his stairs shall look toward the east.
- NKJV the ledge, fourteen cubits long and fourteen wide on its four sides, with a rim of half a cubit around it; its base, one cubit all around; and its steps face toward the east.”
- NASB And the ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide in its four sides, the border around it shall be half a cubit, and its base shall be a cubit all around; and its steps shall face east.”
- NLT The upper ledge also forms a square, measuring 24-1/2 feet by 24-1/2 feet, with a 21-inch gutter and a 10-1/2-inch curb all around the edge. There are steps going up the east side of the altar.”
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
The ledge surrounding the altar is measured, with steps facing east for the priests to ascend.
Overview
The eastward-facing steps allowed the priests to approach the altar in the proper direction within the temple layout. Every dimension and orientation is divinely specified, reinforcing that access to God is granted only on His appointed terms. The detailed approach to the altar anticipates the one mediator, Christ, through whom we draw near to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Exod 20:26And you must not go up to My altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.’
- Ezek 40:6Then he came to the gate facing east and climbed its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate to be one rod deep.
- 1 Kgs 6:8The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the middle level, and from there to the third floor.
- 1 Kgs 18:32And with the stones, Elijah built an altar in the name of the LORD. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.
- Neh 9:4And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God.
- Exod 25:25And make a rim around it a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.
- Ezek 8:16So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.
- Exod 30:3Overlay with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns, and make a molding of gold around it.
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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 43:17 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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