Ezekiel 41

And he brought me into the temple, and measured the fronts: six cubits of breadth on this side and six cubits of breadth on that side, the breadth of the tabernacle. And the breadth of the gate was of ten cubits, and the sides (or shoulders) of the gate of five cubits on this side and five cubits on that side; and he measured a length of forty cubits and a breadth of twenty cubits. After many mysteries and various entrances and the particular features of each place, at long last the man in whose hand were the masons' line and the measuring reed brings the prophet Ezekiel into the temple, and he measured the front of the temple — for which the Seventy translated 'aelam', and Theodotion 'aelim', and Symmachus 'round about' —, and each breadth of the tabernacle was of six cubits, containing the mystery of all creatures — for in six days the world was founded —, through the knowledge of which, and of the causes and the principle of their founding, we enter into the temple of God, and from the order and constancy of creatures we know the Creator.

The breadth of the gate of the temple, moreover, was of ten cubits — which is a sacred and perfect number, and the one on which, in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, there is the fast and the propitiation; and on the tenth day of the first month, which is called Nisan, the lamb is taken for the sacrifice and preparation of the Passover. In the seventh month, therefore, tithes are offered into the granaries of God, or, as Scripture is accustomed to call them, the winepresses; whence the Apostle also says: Be enlarged, you also —, so that, after someone has entered the temple through the ten cubits of the gate, its sides on either part, or, as it is properly said in the Hebrew, its shoulders, are measured, which always refer to works — whence also: Issachar desired the good, resting among the middle lots; and he saw rest, that it is good, and the land, that it is fat: he put his shoulder to labor and became a husbandman; and in the garment of the high priest the shoulder-piece is bound together with the rational, so that works may be completed by reason, and the churchman may say: From your commandments I have understood —, which shoulders of the gate had five cubits each on either side, so that through the earthly senses and the divine, about whose difference we often write, we may enter the innermost recesses of the temple; of which that man, who was the prophet's guide, measured the length of forty cubits and the breadth of twenty cubits, or, as is better, the length and breadth of the gate, because above he had spoken only of its breadth and its shoulders. Now that twenty times forty makes the number eight hundred, which is akin to the number eight, is doubtful to no one — whence also in Ecclesiastes it is commanded: Give a portion to seven, give also to eight —, and I know that I have often discussed the mystery of that number; or else, because it is through the tribulations and straits of this world that we enter into the sanctuary of the Lord, therefore the length of the gate had forty cubits, a number that is always set in labor — whence both Moses and Elijah for forty days do not eat bread and do not drink water, and for forty years the people of Israel is harassed and tested in the wilderness and after many labors enters the land of promise, and the Lord and Savior, according to the frailty of the body he assumed, is tempted for forty days in the wilderness, so that after the victory angels might come and minister to him —. But when, after tribulations and straits, we are able to say that apostolic word: In all things troubled, but not straitened, and the prophetic one: In tribulation you have enlarged me, then a most wide entrance is opened to us, which has a breadth of twenty cubits, so that, having overcome the contests of the world and of earthly things, which itself also is a dual number, we may enter the inner places of the temple, and hear the Lord commanding the disciples: Take courage, I have conquered the world.

And having entered within (or into the inner court) he measured in the front (or 'aelam') of the gate two cubits, and the gate of six cubits, and the breadth of the gate of seven cubits (or and the shoulders of the gate seven cubits on this side and seven cubits on that side). And he measured its length (or of the doors) of twenty cubits and the breadth of twenty cubits before the face of the temple, and he said to me: This is the Holy of Holies. However much we advance, a greater advance always opens before us. Hence, after the entrance of the temple, we again enter within, or, as the Seventy translated, the inner court, in whose 'front' or 'ael' — for which Symmachus translated 'around the gate', Theodotion 'aelam', the Hebrew 'ul', Aquila 'on this side of the door', we 'front' —, there were two cubits, so that, according to the sense given above, through the dual number we may enter that place where the Holy of Holies is; whence also the gate itself was of six cubits, through which, having entered, we possess eternal rest, which is shown in the number seven: for which the Seventy translated: And the breadth of the gate of seven cubits on this side and of seven cubits on that side, whereas in the Hebrew and the other editions the cubits in the breadth of the gate are set down only once.

What follows, however: And he measured its length of twenty cubits (or, as is contained in the Seventy, forty), the breadth also of twenty cubits before the face of the temple, signifies this: that before the face of the temple and at its entrance the measure of past labor and contest always meets us; for the same meaning that the double number holds among the single numbers, the two decades have. And this must be considered: that, having entered within through the gate of two cubits in front, which has six cubits and seven in breadth on either side and twenty cubits in length and as many in the very doors of the temple, the prophet is taught what that place is, or by what name it is called: for he said, he says, to me: This is the Holy of Holies. But if before the temple, or, as Scripture names it, before the face of the temple, there is the Holy of Holies, how great a blessedness ought we to reckon there is in the innermost recesses of the temple and in its interior — of which the prophet speaks: This is labor in my sight, until I enter into the sanctuary of God; I shall understand in their last things —! But this too must be noted, that in the description of the tabernacle Sancta sanctorum [holies of holies] is said in the plural number, but here Sanctum sanctorum [holy of holies] in the singular number, so that after the holy things we may come to the Holy — just as after many songs we arrive at the Song of Songs, which is the song of all songs and singing which we are joined in the embraces of the Bridegroom —.

And he measured the wall of the house, six cubits, and the breadth of the side, four cubits, round about the house on every side; and the sides, side to side, twice thirty-three. And there were projections which entered through the wall of the house in the sides round about, to hold and not to touch the wall of the temple. And there was a broad way going upward in a round by a spiral, and it led into the upper room of the temple by a circuit. Therefore the temple was wider in the upper parts, and so from the lower parts one went up to the upper into the middle. (But what is set down in the Seventy, and from the middle parts to the tristega — that is, 'to the third upper rooms' and 'thrael', is not found in the Hebrew; and for 'thrael' too, which I do not know what it signifies, for it is not found in the Hebrew, there is read among them 'uraithi', which both we and the others translated 'and I saw', so that the order of the testimony may follow:) And I saw in the house a height round about, the sides founded to the measure of a reed with a space of six cubits; and the breadth through the wall of the side outside of five cubits, and the inner house in the sides of the house, and between the chambers a breadth of twenty cubits round the house on every side. And the door of the side for prayer (which is not found in the Seventy), one door toward the way of the north, and one door toward the southern way; and the breadth of the place for prayer (which the Seventy likewise did not translate) of five cubits round about. And the building which was separate and turned toward the way looking to the sea, of a breadth of seventy cubits, but the wall of the building five cubits of breadth round about, and its length ninety cubits. After he came to the Holy of Holies, of which we spoke above, that venerable man measured the wall of the Holy of Holies, which, on account of the fabric of the world and all the visible creation that was founded in six days, had six cubits, and the breadth of one side, four cubits: not on one side only, but round about the house was the breadth; and the breadth held four cubits round about the house, so as to show the four elements from which all things are compacted, and especially human bodies, against which the saints, fighting and subjecting them to the power of the soul, merit to enter the inner places and to know the secrets of the Lord.

The sides themselves, which were round about the house and were separated from the wall of the temple by a space of four cubits, were joined to one another, so that one side touched another side and had in length not thirty-three cubits but twice thirty-three, that is, sixty-six. The Old Testament speaks in Leviticus about the birth of a male, that after one week both she who bore and he who was born fulfill thirty-three days so that they may come to purification; but if she bears a female, she is to observe a double number, that is, sixty-six; and because, in order to come to the Holy of Holies, we need not only the first birth but also the second, so that, born in the flesh, we may be reborn in the spirit, therefore not the number sixty-six but twice thirty-three is set down, so that each birth may be owed to God as author and to his clemency, and that the sides of the house which support the building of the temple may go round it with a double wall. And what follows according to the Hebrew: And there were certain projections which entered through the walls of the house through the sides round about, to hold and not to touch the wall of the temple, signifies this: that holy men in the multitude of believers break forth through the wall of the temple, that is, through all the sides round about, and hold the foundations of the Church, and yet do not touch the wall of the temple, content only to have seen and from afar to have adored the unspeakable mysteries: for now we see through a mirror in an enigma, and we cannot touch and comprehend the fullest truth.

But as for: There was a broad way going upward in a round by a spiral, and it led into the upper room of the temple by a circuit, and: Therefore the temple was wider in the upper parts, and so from the lower parts one went up to the upper and the middle, I think it is clear to the reader that the things below are always narrower, in fasts, in sleeping on the ground, in restraint of diet, and that little by little, as we climb to the heights, a wider way is opened to us and that is fulfilled which is written: In tribulation you have enlarged me; and by the round and the spiral we climb to the upper room of the temple, a figure which among all σχήματα [shapes, figures] is approved as the more beautiful even by the philosophers of this world, since the sky and the sun and the moon and the other stars and the point of the earth, and in human bodies too the eyes, like other stars, and the shape of the head, which is the receptacle of all the senses, and the rounded fingers and thighs and arms display this roundness; moreover, the upper room of the temple, to which one climbs from narrower things to higher, I think is that which Elijah and Elisha had in the volume of Kings, and which our Tabitha — that is, δορκάς and doe — possessed in the Acts of the Apostles, she who by good works had climbed to the heights; but the apostle Peter, upon whom the Lord made firm the foundations of the Church, went beyond the upper room and came to the roof — which is more expressively called δῶμα in Greek — that is, the sun-terrace of the roof —, and came to know the mysteries of the Church previously unknown to the world; the Savior of the human race also made the Passover in an upper room, and in a large and broad upper room, purged of all filth and spread and prepared for the spiritual banquet, where he handed on to his disciples the mystery of his body and blood and left us the eternal festival of the spotless lamb. And what he adds: And from the middle parts to the tristega (that is, third upper rooms) and 'thrael', seems to me fit to be marked beforehand with an obelus: for what need is there to discuss doubtful things that are not written, when we ought to apply ourselves to the things contained in the books of the Hebrews?

There follows: And I saw in the house a height round about, the sides founded to the measure of a reed with a space of six cubits; and the breadth through the wall of the side outside of five cubits; and between the chambers (which Symmachus calls ἐξέδρας [exedras]) a breadth of twenty cubits round the house, by which numbers it is shown that from this world and from the earthly senses and from the dual number of two decades, which is referred to twenty, we may merit to ascend not only into the Holy of Holies but also into its upper rooms, and may always keep in memory that through the six days of our creation and through the five senses and through the twenty cubits of breadth we have ascended to the upper room of the temple and, leaving behind earthly lowliness and the sense of the letter, have crossed over to the summit of the Church, and rejoice in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

And the door, he says, of the side for prayer facing the way of the north: From which evils blaze forth upon all the earth, and which the Lord promises he will drive away from us, saying: And him who is from the north I will drive away from you; and beautifully at the door facing the north is the place of prayer, so that according to the Apostle we may pray without ceasing, and say with Jeremiah: Let not the pupil of my eye be silent, either desiring to avoid present evils or giving thanks for past ones — for as long as we are in the tabernacle of this body, we groan and say: Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? —; but toward the southern way too there was a door, and it also, according to the Hebrew, had a place of prayer and extended five cubits round about — for after the cold of the north let us cross over to the warmth of the south —, and yet once more we seek a place of prayer: at the door of the north, that we may escape dangers; at the southern one, that we may give thanks for past things and that the possession of victory may be secure for us; and the five cubits in this place too indicate the divine senses, through which we climb from earthly things to higher.

And the building, he says, which was separate and turned toward the way looking to the sea, of a breadth of seventy cubits, so that, after labors and dangers and the waves and shipwrecks of this world, and the seventy years of which Jeremiah writes, and Daniel and Zechariah, we may attain the true and lawful sabbath of seven decades, and there may be eternal rest for us; and that through the breadth of five cubits we may come to the length of ninety cubits, the age at which Sarah bore a son by the promise, she who at ninety years, that is, of nine decades, gave birth to Isaac, joined to Abraham the hundred-year-old, who held the mystery of ten decades — what this number signifies, the Scripture that follows will show.

And he measured the length of the house, a hundred cubits, and the building that was separate and its walls, of a length of a hundred cubits; but the breadth before the face of the house and of that which was separate toward the east, a hundred cubits. And he measured the length of the building facing that which was separate at the back, ἔκθετας (that is, 'projections') on either side, a hundred cubits; and the inner temple and the vestibules of the court, the thresholds and slanting windows, and ἔκθετας round about on three sides facing each threshold, and it was laid with wood in a ring round about; and earth up to the windows, and the windows closed above the doors. And up to the inner house and outside, over the whole wall round about, within and without, by measure. And Cherubim and palms were wrought, and a palm between Cherub and Cherub; and a Cherub had two faces: the face of a man next to a palm on this side, and the face of a lion next to a palm on the other side, fashioned through all the house round about. From the ground up to the upper parts of the gate Cherubim and palms were carved on the wall of the temple. A four-cornered threshold, and the face of the sanctuary, aspect facing aspect. Of the wooden altar the height three cubits, and its length two cubits, and its corners and its length and its walls of wood. (LXX: "And he measured ÷ facing ⁚ the house, a length of a hundred cubits, and the remaining parts and the separating parts and its walls in length a hundred cubits; and the breadth facing the face of the temple and the remaining parts opposite, a hundred cubits. And he measured the length of the separating part facing the face of the remaining parts which were behind the back of that house, and the remaining parts on this side and on that, a length of a hundred cubits; and the temple and the corners and the 'aelam' outside laid with wood, and windows made in the manner of a net, three, for giving light, so that one might see through them; and the house and the things that were next to it laid with wood round about, and the pavement, and from the pavement up to the windows, and the windows opened in threefold manner so that one might look out through them. And up to the inner and the outer house and over every wall round about, within and without, measure; and carved Cherubim and palms between Cherub and Cherub: the face of a man toward the palm on this side, and the face of a lion toward the palm on that side, every wall carved round about: from the pavement up to the ceiling Cherubim and palms carved. And the sanctuary and the temple opened by four corners. Facing the face of the holy things a vision like the appearance of a wooden altar, its height three cubits and its length two cubits and its breadth two cubits, and it had horns, its base also and its walls of wood.") The word 'facing', which the Seventy translated at the beginning of the testimony, where it is written: And he measured 'facing' the house, is not found in the Hebrew, and therefore it must be marked beforehand with an obelus, so that it may read more rightly and more truly: And he measured the house, a length of a hundred cubits, and the rest. There are described, moreover, the Holy of Holies and the inner temple, which after ninety cubits is said to have a hundred cubits on three sides: the perfect number, namely, of ten decades, so that we may serve God with mind and speech and works, remembering that apostolic example in which he says: That we may be able to know what is the breadth, and length and height and depth. But what the Hebrew calls 'the separate building and its walls', the Seventy render 'the remaining parts' 'and the separating parts', which do not cling to the walls of the temple but have walls near at hand and their own.

The temple itself also and its corners and the 'aelam' (that is, πρόπυλον or 'vestibule') were laid with wood outside, namely with wisdom, which Scripture records as the tree of life set in paradise. The windows also were made in the manner of a net, like lattices, so that they were closed not with transparent stone nor with glass, but with wood cut in openwork and worked in wavy patterns — for which the Hebrew has 'slanting windows' —; and they were on three sides of the temple only, namely to the right and the left and behind the back, that is, toward the south and the north and toward the west; but the eastern side had no windows, because the entrance itself let clear light in within, and all the interior of the temple was filled with the light of the doors, so that through the individual windows and the openings of the lattices one could look inside. And not only were the outer parts laid with wood, but so great was the abundance of wood round about that both the pavement and, from the pavement up to the windows, everything was joined with wood; and these windows, according to the Seventy, opened in threefold manner, so that, when they were opened, a threefold understanding might be shown in the temple of God — according to what is said elsewhere: But you, write them threefold —; and one might look out through them not only inward but outward, so that we may recognize the inner things as invisible and the outer things as visible; so that one shows the mind, another the flesh, one the spiritual understanding, another the simple history.

Forgive, reader, the difficulty, and grant pardon to a poor understanding: for through windows that are slanting and made in the manner of a net and always closed, we can scarcely send the eye of our heart in as far as the inner house, so that all that we discern we see in shadow and image — and let us cry out with the Apostle: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments, and unsearchable his ways! And who has known the mind of the Lord? except him who is the angel of great counsel and can open his mysteries to the worthy —. Now at Rome they call Ἔκθετας 'solaria' [sun-balconies], jutting out from the walls of upper rooms, or 'maeniana' [balconies], after him who first invented them; some of the Greeks call them ἐξώστρας [projecting galleries].

And over all the walls round about, both within and without, there were measures of their own: for nothing was made by God without reason and measure in the temple of God, and especially in the Holy of Holies.

Carved also were Cherubim, no doubt on the wood reaching from the pavement up to the windows, and the carvings were so skillfully wrought that they seemed not carved but applied. 'Cherubim' means 'multitude of knowledge'; therefore within, in the interior of the temple, after the multitude of knowledge, palms also are carved — in which is the sign of victory, as the Apostle says: But I press on toward the appointed goal, toward the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus —, which palms: Palms were between Cherub and Cherub, so that each Cherub was fenced in by the flanks of two palms; and this Cherub by no means had four faces, as we read at the beginning of this prophet, namely of a man and of a lion and of a calf and of an eagle, but only two, that is, of a man and of a lion, of which the first pertains to reason, the next to fury — which is more expressively called θυμός in Greek —: but by fury we mean not that which is next to perturbation and vice, but that which firms up the softness of the mind and makes the spirit of the one fighting stronger; for at the beginning we are subject also to desire, which is referred to the calf because of the works of the earth, and some things are carnal and others spiritual, the last of which is assigned to the eagle; but when we have entered the Holy of Holies and come into possession of the interior of the temple, we need nothing else but reason and fortitude, of which the one is referred to sense and prudence, the other to perseverance of spirit.

Every wall, therefore, round about the temple, from the pavement up to the ceiling, had Cherubim and palms carved with wonderful art; after these the sanctuary was opened by four corners facing the face of the holy things: for first we have the multitude of knowledge, through which we gain the victory over the enemy, and afterward the sanctuary is opened to us, and the temple, which has four corners, a most firm station, and one that leans toward no side; for this is the nature of the measure of a quadrangle, that it stands on a stable base and, in a mystical number which is clear to the prudent reader, possesses the four elements, of which all things consist, solid and perpetual.

And all things looked toward the face of the sanctuary; before which sanctuary, or in which sanctuary, there was: The appearance of a wooden altar three cubits in height and two cubits in length and two cubits in breadth, which joined together make seven cubits. This altar had horns, and both its base and its walls, that is, its sides, were wooden: in which the human tongue cannot unfold the mysteries of Holy Scripture: how an altar on which fire was to be kindled, namely the table of incense, suffers nothing from the fire but, so to speak, becomes purer than fire; for just as the works of the saints — of which the Apostle writes: The fire will test what sort each one's work is — do not perish but are shown purer through fire, so too the wood of the altar, which is of the trees of paradise, is not burned by the neighboring fire but is rendered purer — nor is it a wonder to believe this of the sanctuary and the interior of the temple and the altar of incense, since even ἀμίαντον [amiantus, asbestos] — it is a kind of wood, or one having the likeness of flax — is found the cleaner the more it has burned —.

And he spoke to me: This is the table before the Lord. And there were two doors in the temple and in the sanctuary; and in the two doors on either side there were two little doors each, which folded into one another; for there were two doors each on either side of the doors. And there were carved on the very doors of the temple Cherubim and sculptures of palms, just as they were also fashioned on the walls; wherefore the timbers also were thicker on the front of the vestibule outside. Above which were slanting windows, and the likeness of palms on this side and on that in the little shoulders of the vestibule, along the sides of the house and the breadth of the walls. (In this place the edition of the Seventy disagrees much with the Hebrew truth. Hence I will point out only this: that for 'thicker timbers' they translated σπουδαῖα, that is, 'necessary' or 'worthy of care', and for 'slanting' windows, 'hidden', and what is placed at the end of the testimony: And he measured on this side and on that the ceilings of the lintel — or of the vestibule — along the sides of the house, compacted — or joined, which they called ἐζυγωμένα, for which we can render 'of equal weight' —.) That man, therefore, who had brought the prophet into the innermost recesses of the temple, and among other things had shown him the wooden altar, which had corners, and horns according to the Seventy, and wooden walls, said to him: 'This altar which you behold: This very one is the table before the Lord', which in the likeness of the bush burns and is not consumed — of which the holy man speaks to the Lord: You have prepared a table in my sight against those who afflict me —.

Two also doors were in the temple and in the sanctuary itself, through which the mysteries of both Testaments are shown.

And in the two doors on either side there were two little doors each, which folded into one another, so that we may have both the spiritual understanding in the history and the truth of the history in the tropology; each of these needs the other, and if one is lacking, perfect knowledge is wanting. What follows, however: There were two doors each on either side of the doors, is clear according to the letter: for in larger dining halls two doors are wont to adjoin each other and be joined together, so that the greater entrance is closed or opened not by two huge leaves but by four smaller ones.

On which doors of the temple (or of the Holy of Holies) were carved Cherubim — of which we spoke above — and sculptures of palms, so that after the multitude of knowledge victory might be granted to those who enter; and this sculpture of palms was also on all the walls of the temple. And he gives the reasons why Cherubim were carved on the doors themselves and likenesses of palms fashioned: Whence also the timbers were thicker in the vestibule of the gate outside, so that they might have firmness and also be able to receive carving; and beautifully, according to the spiritual understanding, the doors are firmer and carved, so that they may have both firmness and beauty, lest anyone like Uzziah should be able to burst into the Holy of Holies and claim the priesthood for himself.

Above which doors there were slanting windows (or hidden), so that the very light that was given within might not have perfect knowledge, nor a clear light open to all, but for most might be hidden in part — for now we see in an enigma, and we do not yet know as we ought to know; but when that which is perfect has come, then what had been in part will be destroyed —. And there was a likeness of palms on this side and on that: elegantly, in the interior of the temple and in the Holy of Holies, he did not put 'right and left', lest he seem to say anything sinister in things that are great and secret, but 'on this side and on that' — according to what is written in the Gospel: Whoever strikes you on the right cheek, offer him the other also. Could he not have said 'and the left'? But when the right is struck, another right is offered, because in a holy man both are right, both are perfect —. And: In the little shoulders of the vestibule, along the sides of the house and the breadth of the walls (for which the Seventy translated: In the ceilings of the 'aelam' — that is, πρόπυλον [gateway] — and the sides of the house of equal weight — or measure —), by which it is shown in a hidden way that the posts of the lintel or of the vestibule — for this is what the little shoulders seem to signify —, and the sides of the house, and the breadth of the walls are all full of reason and measure, and that nothing is found in the temple of the Lord which has been established without measure and wisdom.