20 And thou hast taken of its blood, and hast put it on its four horns, and on the four corners of its border, and on the border round about, and hast cleansed it, and purified it.
and `one' slaughtereth, and Moses taketh the blood, and putteth on the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and cleanseth the altar, and the blood he hath poured out at the foundation of the altar, and sanctifieth it, to make atonement upon it.
and he hath sprinkled on it of the blood with his finger seven times, and hath cleansed it, and hath hallowed it from the uncleannesses of the sons of Israel.
and a bullock, a sin-offering, thou dost prepare daily for the atonements, and thou hast atoned for the altar, in thy making atonement on it, and hast anointed it to sanctify it;
and the sons of Aaron bring the blood near unto him, and he dippeth his finger in the blood, and putteth `it' on the horns of the altar, and the blood he hath poured out at the foundation of the altar;
Seven days they purify the altar, and have cleansed it, and filled their hand.
`And the priest hath taken of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and hath put on the horns of the altar of the burnt-offering, and its blood he doth pour out at the foundation of the altar of the burnt-offering,
`And the priest hath taken of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and hath put on the horns of the altar of the burnt-offering, and all its blood he poureth out at the foundation of the altar,
`And the altar `is' four cubits, and from the altar and upward `are' four horns. And the altar `is' twelve long by twelve broad, square in its four squares. And the border `is' fourteen long by fourteen broad, at its four squares, and the border round about it `is' half a cubit, and the centre to it `is' a cubit round about, and its steps are looking eastward.'
and both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the service with blood in like manner he did sprinkle, and with blood almost all things are purified according to the law, and apart from blood-shedding forgiveness doth not come. `It is' necessary, therefore, the pattern indeed of the things in the heavens to be purified with these, and the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 43
Commentary on Ezekiel 43 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 43
The prophet, having given us a view of the mystical temple, the gospel-church, as he received it from the Lord, that it might appear not to be erected in vain, comes to describe, in this and the next chapter, the worship that should be performed in it, but under the type of the Old-Testament services. In this chapter we have,
Ezekiel seems here to stand between God and Israel, as Moses the servant of the Lord did when the sanctuary was first set up.
Eze 43:1-6
After Ezekiel has patiently surveyed the temple of God, the greatest glory of this earth, he is admitted to a higher form, and honoured with a sight of the glories of the upper world; it is said to him, Come up hither. He has seen the temple, and sees it to be very spacious and splendid; but, till the glory of God comes into it, it is but like the dead bodies he had seen in vision (ch. 37), that had no breath till the Spirit of life entered into them. Here therefore he sees the house filled with God's glory.
Eze 43:7-12
God does here, in effect, renew his covenant with his people Israel, upon his retaking possession of the house, and Ezekiel negotiates the matter, as Moses formerly. This would be of great use to the captives at their return both for direction and encouragement; but it looks further, to those that are blessed with the privileges of the gospel-temple, that they may understand how they are before him on their good behaviour.
Eze 43:13-27
This relates to the altar in this mystical temple, and that is mystical too; for Christ is our altar. The Jews, after their return out of captivity, had an altar long before they had a temple, Ezra 3:3. But this was an altar in the temple. Now here we have,