The Bible

 

Ezekiel 41

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1 Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle.

2 And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length of it forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits.

3 Then he went inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits.

4 So he measured the length of it twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said to me, This is the most holy place.

5 Afterward he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side-chamber, four cubits, round the house on every side.

6 And the side-chambers were three, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which was of the house for the side-chambers around, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house.

7 And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side-chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward around the house; therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst.

8 I saw also the hight of the house around: the foundations of the side-chambers were a full reed of six great cubits.

9 The thickness of the wall, which was for the side-chamber without, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side-chambers that were within.

10 And between the chambers was the width of twenty cubits around the house on every side.

11 And the doors of the side-chambers were towards the place that was left, one door towards the north, and another door towards the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits around.

12 Now the building that was before the separate place at the end towards the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick around, and its length ninety cubits.

13 So he measured the house, a hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with its walls, a hundred cubits long;

14 Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place towards the east, a hundred cubits.

15 And he measured the length of the building over against the separate place which was behind it, and its galleries on the one side and on the other side, a hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the porches of the court;

16 The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries around on their three stories, over against the door, ceiled with wood around, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered;

17 To that above the door, even to the inner house, and without, and by all the wall around within and without, by measure.

18 And it was made with cherubim and palm-trees, so that a palm-tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces;

19 So that the face of a man was towards the palm-tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion towards the palm-tree on the other side: it was made through all the house around.

20 From the ground to above the door were cherubim and palm-trees made, and on the wall of the temple.

21 The posts of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary; the appearance of the one as the appearance of the other.

22 The altar of wood was three cubits high, and its length two cubits; and its corners, and its length, and its walls, were of wood: and he said to me, This is the table that is before the LORD.

23 And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors.

24 And the doors had two leaves each, two turning leaves; two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door.

25 And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm-trees, as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without.

26 And there were narrow windows and palm-trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side-chambers of the house, and thick planks.

   

Commentary

 

Door

  
Photo by Gretchen Keith

Generally, doors in the Bible represent the initial desires for good and concepts of truth that introduce us to new levels of love and understanding, and even to the Lord Himself. Since a “house” represents a person’s desires, affections and passions, the door serves to introduce true ideas that can put those desires into action.

In John 10:7, the door signifies the Lord, who is good itself and truth itself. (Arcana Coelestia 2356[2])

In Revelation 3:8; 4:1, the door signifies admission to the arcana of heaven revealed. (Apocalypse Explained 260[2])

The meaning depends on context, of course. For example, references to doorposts and lintels are making a distinction between introductory goods and introductory truths. And, in Sodom, Lot's house had two doors -- an inner one and an outer one. When, in Genesis 19:6, Lot tried to convince the men of Sodom not to attack the angels visiting him, he went outside the inner door, but stayed inside the outer door. There, the outer door represents a desire for good that is resistant to the falsity represented by the men of Sodom; the inner door represents true ideas springing from that desire for good. Someone nurturing a desire for good could be admitted through the first door, but would have to learn the truth about how to express that desire before being admitted through the second.

(References: Genesis 19)