“I looked up!
I saw a man
With a measuring line
In his hand!”
The next vision of Zechariah was about a man with a measuring line in his hand. This was somewhat like the prophet Ezekiel, chapters 40-41, with the bronze man who was measuring everything in Jerusalem.
“On the twenty-fourth day
Of the first month,
As I was standing
On the bank
Of the great river,
That is the Tigris,
I looked up.
I saw
A man clothed
In linen,
With a belt
Of gold,
From Uphaz,
Around his waist.
His body was
Like beryl.
His face was
Like lightning.
His eyes were
Like flaming torches.
His arms,
As well as his legs,
Were
Like the gleam
Of burnished bronze.
The sound
Of his words were
Like the noise
Of a multitude.”
On the 24th of the 1st month, Daniel was on the banks of the great river, the Euphrates, not the Tigris, since the Tigris does not go through Babylon. Then Daniel looked up. He saw a man dressed in linen clothes with a Uphaz gold belt. Uphaz was another name for Ophir, a large gold mining area. Daniel then described this man’s body as like beryl or emerald looking. His face was like lightning. His eyes were like flaming torches. He almost sounded like Santa Claus. His arms and legs were like burnished bronze, similar to the bronze man at the end of the Book of Ezekiel, chapters 40-47. The sound of his voice was like a large group of people. He was quite unique.
“He said to me.
‘Son of man!
Have you seen this?’
Then he led me back
Along the bank
Of the river.
As I went back,
I saw
On the bank
Of the river
A great many trees
On the one side
As well as on the other side.”
The bronze man spoke like Yahweh in calling Ezekiel the son of man. He asked if Ezekiel had seen all this mile-long flowing water from the Temple. Then he brought Ezekiel to the bank of the river, where Ezekiel saw a lot of trees on both sides of the river.
“Going on eastward,
With a cord in his hand,
The man measured
One thousand cubits.
Then he led me
Through the water.
It was ankle-deep.
Again,
He measured
One thousand cubits.
He led me
Through the water.
It was knee-deep.
Again,
He measured
One thousand cubits.
He led me
Through the water.
It was up to the waist.
Again,
He measured
One thousand cubits.
It was a river
That I could not cross.
The water had risen.
It was deep enough
To swim in,
A river
That could not be crossed.”
The bronze man took a cord and started to measure the flowing water from the Temple. For the first 1,000 cubits or 1,500 feet, or a little over a quarter mile, the water was only ankle-deep. He then led Ezekiel across this small stream. However, the next measured 1,000 cubits or quarter mile, the water was knee high. Once again, he led Ezekiel across this knee-high water. After the 3rd measurement of 1,000 cubits or over a quarter mile, the water was waist high. Ezekiel then waded through this waist-high water. Finally, after another 1,000 cubits or another quarter mile, it was a mighty river that Ezekiel could not cross, except by swimming, because it was so deep. Thus, there was a river, a little over a mile from the eastern gate of the Temple.
“Then he brought me back
To the entrance
Of the temple.
There,
Water was flowing
From below the threshold
Of the temple
Toward the east.
The temple faced east.
The water was flowing down
From below
The south end
Of the threshold
Of the temple,
South of the altar.
Then he brought me out
By way of the north gate.
He led me around
On the outside
To the outer gate
That faces toward the east.
The water was coming out
On the south side.”
The bronze man brought Ezekiel to the entrance of the Temple. This time, there was water flowing from below the threshold of the Temple toward the east, since the Temple faced east. This mysterious water movement was coming from the south end, south of the altar. Then the bronze man brought Ezekiel out the north gate and around to the east outer gate. There the mysterious water was coming out once again from the south side of the Temple.
“Then he brought me out
To the outer court.
He led me past
The four corners
Of the court.
In each corner
Of the court,
There was another court.
In the four corners
Of the court
Were small courts,
Forty cubits long,
Thirty cubits wide.
The four were
Of the same size.
On the inside,
Around each
Of the four courts,
Was a row of masonry?
They had hearths
Made at the bottom
Of the rows,
All around.
Then he said to me.
‘These are the kitchens
Where those who serve
At the temple
Shall boil
The sacrifices
Of the people.’”
The bronze man brought Ezekiel to the Temple outer court. There were four corners in this court. In each corner of the court, there was another court. There were 4 small courts about 40 by 30 cubits, about 70 feet by 50 feet, all the same size. Around the inside of each of these 4 courts was a mason hearth with rows all around it. Then the bronze man told Ezekiel that these were the kitchens where those who served at the Temple boiled the sacrifices for the people. Ezekiel, thus, had a first-hand look at the workings inside the Temple.
“He said to me.
‘This is the place
Where the priests
Shall boil
The guilt offering,
As well as the sin offering.
This is where
They shall bake
The grain offering.
Thus,
They will not bring them out
Into the outer court.
If they did,
They would communicate
Holiness
To the people.’”
Ezekiel saw the so-called holy kitchen. The bronze man explained that the priests boiled their guilt and sin offerings here. They also baked the grain offerings here. Thus, they would not bring out these offerings to the outer court. If they brought them out to the outer court, then the people would touch or see these holy offerings. Yahweh, via Ezekiel, did not want the people to come in contact with these holy offerings, less they become holy also.
“While the man
Was standing
Beside me,
I heard someone
Speaking
To me
Out of the temple.”
The bronze man was standing beside Ezekiel, when he heard a voice from the Temple. This was not the voice of the bronze man or an angel. It was Yahweh in all his glory, in the Temple itself, speaking to Ezekiel.
“Afterward,
He brought me
To the gate,
The gate facing east.”
After all the measurements, the bronze man brought Ezekiel back to the eastern gate, as a new chapter begins.
“He measured the east side
With the measuring reed.
It was five hundred cubits
By the measuring reed.
Then he turned.
He measured the north side.
It was five hundred cubits
By the measuring reed.
Then he turned.
He measured the south side.
It was five hundred cubits
By the measuring reed.
Then he turned to the west side.
He measured it.
It was five hundred cubits
By the measuring reed.
He measured it
On the four sides.
It had a wall around it.
It was
Five hundred cubits long,
Five hundred cubits wide.
This made a separation
Between the holy
With the common.”
The bronze man then measured the outer Temple wall. Guess what? It was a square of 500 cubits or about 800 feet square all around, a fairly large enclosed square area. He measured first the east side, then the north, south, and west side with his measuring stick or reed. Each time the result was the same. Thus, there was a separation between the interior holy place and the common area outside the wall.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 