Ezekiel 47:1-12
It remains for the prophet to consider one marvellous detail in the future temple. From beneath the threshold, as if from the very throne of God, flows a fresh spring, mighty and inexhaustible. As it flows, it increases in volume (though there is no mention of tributaries), and Ezekiel, following the course of the river with his heavenly companion, is invited to cross it every thousand cubits. Soon he is out of his depth: these are "waters to swim in".
Precious picture of that river of grace which flows forth for us from the holy place! Like the prophet, we learn to appreciate its depths progressively as we go forward in our Christian career, until we realise that this grace is unfathomable (2 Peter 3:18).
This amazing river will flow towards the East, bringing life and fertility into what is in fact the most desolate region on the globe: that of the Dead Sea (v. 8; cf. Joel 3:18; Zechariah 14:8). That sea will be healed and will teem with fish; the desert will be changed into a land of bubbling springs (Isaiah 41:18); there will be nothing left to recall the overthrow of Sodom. In such a way, divine and life-giving grace produces fruit for God wherever it reaches, just as it does in our own hearts (John 7:38).