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Ezekiel 40

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1 In the twenty and fifth year of our removal, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in this self-same day hath a hand of Jehovah been upon me, and He bringeth me in thither;

2 in visions of God He hath brought me in unto the land of Israel, and causeth me to rest on a very high mountain, and upon it [is] as the frame of a city on the south.

3 And He bringeth me in thither, and lo, a man, his appearance as the appearance of brass, and a thread of flax in his hand, and a measuring-reed, and he is standing at the gate,

4 and the man speaketh unto me: `Son of man, see with thine eyes, And with thine ears hear, And set thy heart to all that I am shewing thee, For, in order to shew [it] thee, Thou hast been brought in hither, Declare all that thou art seeing to the house of Israel.'

5 And lo, a wall on the outside of the house all round about, and in the hand of the man a measuring-reed, six cubits by a cubit and a handbreadth, and he measureth the breadth of the building one reed, and the height one reed.

6 And he cometh in unto the gate whose front [is] eastward, and he goeth up by its steps, and he measureth the threshold of the gate one reed broad, even the one threshold one reed broad,

7 and the little chamber one reed long and one reed broad, and between the little chambers five cubits, and the threshold of the gate, from the side of the porch of the gate from within, one reed.

8 And he measureth the porch of the gate from within one reed,

9 and he measureth the porch of the gate eight cubits, and its posts two cubits, and the porch of the gates from within,

10 and the little chambers of the gate eastward, three on this side, and three on that side; one measure [is] to them three, and one measure [is] to the posts, on this side and on that side.

11 And he measureth the breadth of the opening of the gate ten cubits, the length of the gate thirteen cubits;

12 and a border before the little chambers, one cubit, and one cubit [is] the border on this side, and the little chamber [is] six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.

13 And he measureth the gate from the roof of the [one] little chamber to the roof of another; the breadth twenty and five cubits, opening over-against opening.

14 And he maketh the posts of sixty cubits, even unto the post of the court, the gate all round about;

15 and by the front of the gate of the entrance, by the front of the porch of the inner gate, fifty cubits;

16 and narrow windows [are] unto the little chambers, and unto their posts at the inside of the gate all round about -- and so to the arches -- and windows all round about [are] at the inside, and at the post [are] palm-trees.

17 And he bringeth me in unto the outer court, and lo, chambers and a pavement made for the court all round about -- thirty chambers on the pavement --

18 and the pavement unto the side of the gates over-against the length of the gates [is] the lower pavement;

19 and he measureth the breadth from before the lower gate, to the front of the inner court, on the outside, a hundred cubits, eastward and northward.

20 As to the gate of the outer court whose front [is] northward, he hath measured its length and its breadth;

21 and its little chambers, three on this side, and three on that side, and its posts and its arches have been according to the measure of the first gate, fifty cubits its length, and the breadth five and twenty by the cubit;

22 and its windows, and its arches, and its palm-trees [are] according to the measure of the gate whose face [is] eastward, and by seven steps they go up on it, and its arches [are] before them.

23 And the gate of the inner court [is] over-against the gate at the north and at the east; and he measureth from gate unto gate, a hundred cubits.

24 And he causeth me to go southward, and lo, a gate southward, and he hath measured its posts and its arches according to these measures;

25 and windows [are] to it and to its arches all round about, like these windows, fifty cubits the length, and the breadth five and twenty cubits;

26 and seven steps [are] its ascent, and its arches [are] before them, and palm-trees [are] to it, one on this side, and one on that side, at its posts;

27 and the gate of the inner court [is] southward, and he measureth from gate unto gate southward, a hundred cubits.

28 And he bringeth me in unto the inner court by the south gate, and he measureth the south gate according to these measures;

29 and its little chambers, and its posts, and its arches [are] according to these measures, and windows [are] to it and to its arches all round about; fifty cubits the length, and the breadth twenty and five cubits.

30 As to the arches all round about, the length [is] five and twenty cubits, and the breadth five cubits;

31 and its arches [are] unto the outer court, and palm-trees [are] unto its posts, and eight steps [are] its ascent.

32 And he bringeth me in unto the inner court eastward, and he measureth the gate according to these measures;

33 and its little chambers, and its posts, and its arches [are] according to these measures: and windows [are] to it and to its arches all round about, the length fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits;

34 and its arches [are] toward the outer court, and palm-trees [are] toward its posts, on this side and on that side, and eight steps [are] its ascent.

35 And he bringeth me in unto the north gate, and hath measured according to these measures;

36 its little chambers, its posts, and its arches; and windows [are] to it all round about: the length fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits;

37 and its posts [are] to the outer court, and palm-trees [are] unto its posts, on this side and on that side, and eight steps [are] its ascent.

38 And the chamber and its opening [is] by the posts of the gates, there they purge the burnt-offering.

39 And in the porch of the gate [are] two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slaughter on them the burnt-offering, and the sin-offering, and the guilt-offering;

40 and at the side without, at the going up to the opening of the north gate, [are] two tables; and at the other side that [is] at the porch of the gate, [are] two tables;

41 four tables [are] on this side, and four tables on that side, at the side of the gate, eight tables on which they slaughter.

42 And the four tables for burnt-offering [are] of hewn stone: the length one cubit and a half, and the breadth one cubit and a half, and the height one cubit: on them they place the instruments with which they slaughter the burnt-offering and the sacrifice.

43 And the boundaries [are] one handbreadth, prepared within all round about: and on the tables [is] the flesh of the offering.

44 And on the outside of the inner gate [are] chambers of the singers, in the inner court, that [are] at the side of the north gate, and their fronts [are] southward, one at the side of the east gate [hath] the front northward.

45 And he speaketh unto me: `This chamber, whose front [is] southward, [is] for priests keeping charge of the house;

46 and the chamber, whose front [is] northward, [is] for priests keeping charge of the altar: they [are] sons of Zadok, who are drawing near of the sons of Levi unto Jehovah, to serve Him.'

47 And he measureth the court: the length a hundred cubits, and the breadth a hundred cubits, square, and the altar [is] before the house.

48 And he bringeth me in unto the porch of the house, and he measureth the post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side, and the breadth of the gate, three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side;

49 the length of the porch twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and by the steps whereby they go up unto it: and pillars [are] at the posts, one on this side, and one on that side.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 904

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904. 21:15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. This symbolically means that to people who possess the goodness of love, the Lord grants a faculty for understanding and knowing the nature of the Lord's New Church as regards its doctrine and its introductory truths, and as regards the Word from which they are drawn.

He who spoke with me symbolizes the Lord speaking from heaven, because it was an angel speaking, one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls mentioned in verse 9, who means the Lord speaking from heaven (no. 895). A reed symbolizes a power or ability springing from the goodness of love - a reed symbolizing power or ability (no. 485), and gold the goodness of love (nos. 211, 726). To measure means, symbolically, to learn the character of a thing, thus to understand and know it (no. 486). The city, the holy Jerusalem, symbolizes the church in respect to its doctrine (nos. 879, 880). Its gates symbolize concepts of truth and goodness from the Word's literal sense, which are truths and goods owing to the spiritual life in them (no. 899). And the wall symbolizes the Word in its literal sense from which the doctrine and concepts come (no. 898).

It is apparent from this that "he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall," symbolically means that to people who possess the goodness of love, the Lord grants a faculty for understanding and knowing the nature of the Lord's New Church as regards its doctrine and its introductory truths, and as regards the Word from which they are drawn.

[2] These symbolic meanings cannot be seen at all in the literal sense, for one sees in it only that an angel speaking with John had a gold reed with which to measure the city and its gates and wall. But even so, that these words contain another meaning, a spiritual meaning, is clearly apparent from the fact that the city Jerusalem does not mean a real city, but the church. Consequently everything said about Jerusalem as a city symbolizes such things as have to do with the church, and everything having to do with the church is, in itself, spiritual.

Such a spiritual meaning is present also in what is said in chapter 11 above, where we are told the following:

I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood by, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there." (Revelation 11:1)

A similar spiritual meaning is present, too, in everything that the angel measured with a reed in Ezekiel 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48. Also in these verses in Zechariah:

I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. So I said, "Where are you going?" And he said to me, "To measure Jerusalem, to see what its width is and what its length." (Zechariah 2:1-2)

Indeed, such a spiritual meaning is present in everything connected with the Tabernacle and in everything connected with the Temple in Jerusalem, whose measurements we are told, and also in the measurements themselves. And yet nothing of this can be seen in the literal sense.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.