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.”
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.
- BSB 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.”
- 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 20:26You shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.’
- Ezek 40:6Then came he to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up its steps: and he measured the threshold of the gate, one reed wide; and the other threshold, one reed wide.
- 1 Kgs 6:8The door for the middle side rooms was in the right side of the house. They went up by winding stairs into the middle floor, and out of the middle into the third.
- 1 Kgs 18:32With the stones he built an altar in Yahweh’s name. He made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two seahs of seed.
- Neh 9:4Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani of the Levites stood up on the stairs, and cried with a loud voice to Yahweh their God.
- Exod 25:25You shall make a rim of a hand width around it. You shall make a golden molding on its rim around it.
- Ezek 8:16He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh’s house; and I saw at the door of Yahweh’s temple, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward Yahweh’s temple, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.
- Exod 30:3You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding around it.
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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 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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