Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 398
386
IMMERSE
•
PROPHETS
42:1-20
Then the man led me out of the Temple courtyard by way of the north
gateway. We entered the outer courtyard and came to a group of rooms
against the north wall of the inner courtyard. This structure, whose en
trance opened toward the north, was 175 feet long and 871/2 feet wide.
One block of rooms overlooked the 35-foot width of the inner court
yard. Another block of rooms looked out onto the pavement of the outer
courtyard. The two blocks were built three levels high and stood across
from each other. Between the two blocks of rooms ran a walkway 171/2
feet wide. It extended the entire 175 feet of the complex, and all the doors
faced north. Each of the two upper levels of rooms was narrower than the
one beneath it because the upper levels had to allow space for walkways
in front of them. Since there were three levels and they did not have sup
porting columns as in the courtyards, each of the upper levels was set
back from the level beneath it. There was an outer wall that separated
the rooms from the outer courtyard; it was 871/2 feet long. This wall
added length to the outer block of rooms, which extended for only 871/2
feet, while the inner block—the rooms toward the Temple—extended
for 175 feet. There was an eastern entrance from the outer courtyard to
these rooms.
On the south side of the Temple there were two blocks of rooms just
south of the inner courtyard between the Temple and the outer courtyard.
These rooms were arranged just like the rooms on the north. There was
a walkway between the two blocks of rooms just like the complex on the
north side of the Temple. This complex of rooms was the same length
and width as the other one, and it had the same entrances and doors. The
dimensions of each were identical. So there was an entrance in the wall
facing the doors of the inner block of rooms, and another on the east at
the end of the interior walkway.
Then the man told me, “These rooms that overlook the Temple from
the north and south are holy. Here the priests who offer sacrifices to the
Lord will eat the most holy offerings. And because these rooms are holy,
they will be used to store the sacred offerings—the grain offerings, sin
offerings, and guilt offerings. When the priests leave the sanctuary, they
must not go directly to the outer courtyard. They must first take off the
clothes they wore while ministering, because these clothes are holy. They
must put on other clothes before entering the parts of the building com
plex open to the public.”
When the man had finished measuring the inside of the Temple area, he
led me out through the east gateway to measure the entire perimeter. He
measured the east side with his measuring rod, and it was 875 feet long.
Then he measured the north side, and it was also 875 feet. The south side
was also 875 feet, and the west side was also 875 feet. So the area was
