Ver. 1. Afterward.] This chapter is no less dark and difficult than was the former, which made Jerome ready to desist and give over commenting, but that he thought it better to say something than nothing, and was brought to know and say that the greatest part of those things he knew were but the least part of that he knew not. What I do understand is good, so I think is that I understand not, said Socrates once of a certain dark author. We may be sure it is so here, and must mirari potius quam rimari; waiting for more light, and praying to that purpose. [as Ephesians 1:17,18] He brought me to the temple.] Who had hitherto been held in the porch. There was a new church to be now erected by the preaching of the gospel; and this, the measuring of the house, (Ezekiel 40) of the temple, (Ezekiel 41) of the courts, (Ezekiel 42) and of all the parts, noteth. And measured the posts.] Or, Fronts, or frontispiece, as the Vulgate hath it. Which was the breadth of the tabernacle.] Made of old by Moses.
Ver. 2. And he measured the length thereof,] i.e., Not of the door, as Jerome would have it; but of the temple, the body and basilic thereof, called “the first sanctuary” (Hebrews 9:2) Forty cubits.] This noteth, say some, the longsuffering and patience of the saints, like as the breadth, twenty cubits, doth their charity.
Ver. 3. Then went he inward.] Toward the Holy of holies. And the door.] Which in the second temple was but a veil, and rent at Christ’s passion.
Ver. 4. And the breadth thereof twenty cubits.] So it was a just square, intimating the stability of the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom that cannot be shaken, (Hebrews 12:28) This is the most holy place.] The Holy of holies, the Oracle, the house of the soul, wherein the only firm hope of Israel resteth—so the Jews called it—the Adytum, or inaccessible place, whither none might come but the high priest only, and that but once a year. Pompey and Heliodorus, for presuming to press into it, were heavily plagued.
Ver. 5. He measured the wall.] With the counterforts added to it for strength and ornament; these are commonly called pilasters or pillars. Six cubits,] scil., In breadth.
Ver. 6. And the side chambers were three, one over another, and thirty in order,] i.e., Three stories, and thirty in each story. Resemblably, there is a threefold rank or order of the members of the Church; there are lowermost, middlemost, and uppermost. These, as they have their several offices and gifts accordingly, so they must keep to their own stations, do their own business, live in love, and wait till called unto a higher room. Substractiones. -Polan. Coatae. -Vatab.
Ver. 7. And there was an enlarging and a winding about still upward.] This might inmind God’s people of heavenly mindedness, whereby their hearts will be enlarged when got once above the world, as birds sing sweetly when got aloft into the air. Went still upward.] Let there be continual ascensions in our hearts: Sursum corda.
Ver. 8. The foundations.] Plus rei quam ostentationis habebant, The good soul rather seeks to be good, than seems to be so. Oecolamp.
Ver. 9. And that which was left.] Area pura, the void place. Piscat.
Ver. 10. And between the chambers.] Vulgate, The treasuries. In the Church much more room is taken up by such as are void of the treasure of God’s grace than by better men, “rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom of Christ.”
Ver. 11. Toward the place that was left.] Which served the faithful, saith Jerome, for an oratory, whither they went to pray.
Ver. 12. The separate place.] The temple, or at least some part of it.
Ver. 13. An hundred cubits.] The temple of Ephesus was 245 feet long, and 220 feet broad. Howbeit for spiritual employment, mystical signification, none ever came near this edifice.
Ver. 14. Also the breadth…an hundred cubits.] Whereas Solomon’s temple was but twenty cubits broad.
Ver. 15. An hundred cubits.] See on Ezekiel 41:13. With the inner temple and the porches thereof.] Summa et infima iuxta curat, nihil aspernatur. Oecolamp.
Ver. 16. And the narrow windows…and the windows were covered.] Here Jerome cries out, “Oh the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” Here be windows, but narrow and covered, which shows that we see not yet, nor can see, into heavenly things but obscurely and obliquely. How little a thing doth man understand of God. (Job 26:14) The holy place was without windows, only there burned lights perpetually; but in the most holy place there was no light at all.
Ver. 17. By measure.] Heb., Measure. See on Ezekiel 40:47.
Ver. 18. And it was made with cherubims and palm trees.] Viz., Upon the partition walls. This was to teach Christians, who are the temples of God, (1.) To live like angels for holiness; (2.) To suffer, as palm trees, any pressures or pains for his sake with invincible patience. By their piety in their lives, and patience at their death, the primitive Christians won much upon their persecutors. Pressa sub ingenti ceu pondere palma virescit. -Plin., lib. xiii. cap. 4. Sub cruce sic florent dedita corda Deo.
Ver. 19. So that the face of a man.] See Ezekiel 1:10. And the face of a young lion towards the palm tree.] The palm tree, as it grew best in Judea, so it is probable that from the temple at Jerusalem it came at first, that the heathens put the palm for a sign of victory, and that the picture of Victory among them had in the one hand a palm, and in the other an olive branch. Wisdom (the praise of a man) and courage (the property of a lion), zeal and discretion, as they make a good mixture, so they conquer and carry it.
Ver. 20. And on the wall of the temple.] Yet this is no warrant for the use of pictures in our churches, whether for worship, as Papists, or for ornaments only, as Lutherans. At a consultation held not many years since at Hamburg by Lutheran ministers, concerning the cause and cure of Germany’s calamities, they concluded it was because their images were not adorned enough, which, therefore, they would procure done. A sad business! Mr Burroughs on Hos., vol. i. p. 465.
Ver. 21. The posts of the temple,] i.e., Of the doors of the temple, were not round or arched, but square; as are at this day the doors of the Pantheon in Rome, saith Vilalpandus, built of old in honour of all gods, and now consecrated by the Pope to the honour of all saints with like superstition.
Ver. 22. The altar,] scil., That for incense, whereof see Exodus 30:6,7, but here of a much larger size. See on Ezekiel 40:1. This altar of wood and square was a type of Christ (not of the cross, as Vilalpandus doateth), in whom our prayers come before God as incense, and he is the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 2:2 Exodus 30:1 Psalms 141:2 Revelation 5:8) The size of this altar above that of old, showeth that the saints under the gospel would make much more improvement of the Lord Jesus in prayer, and make use of his mediation and intercession by faith in their heavenly sublimated supplications, than the saints of old were ordinarily wont to do. This is the table.] One and the same Christ is all in all to his people—an altar to sanctify them and their offerings; a table also to feed and feast them with the most precious provisions. See Psalms 23:5,6 36:9 65:5 Pr 9:1,2 Isa 25:6-8. Cobbet, Of Prayer, p. 235.
Ver. 23. Had two doors.] Understand hereby the means of grace, and ministers dispensing the same, whereby souls are brought home to Christ.
Ver. 24. Two leaves.] There are variety of ordinances.
Ver. 25. Cherubims and palm trees.] Let ministers resemble angels, and they shall be victorious, and well rewarded. The palm is a symbol of constance, and of a crown.
Ver. 26. And thick planks,] i.e., The heads or ends of thick beams or joists, supporting the rafters. We see what use there is of architecture, among other arts, in expounding Scripture. Vilalpandus saith he bestowed two and twenty years’ study upon this fabric of the temple here described.