Study Desk

You can eat all the fat you want and drink blood until you are full. You will eat and drink from my sacrifice, which I will kill for you.

They sinned and made themselves filthy, so I punished them for the things they did. I turned away from them and refused to help them."

So this is what the Lord God says: "Now I will bring the family of Jacob back from captivity. I will have mercy on the whole family of Israel. I will show my strong feelings for my holy name.

I saw a wall that went all the way around the outside of the Temple. In the man's hand there was a ruler for measuring things. It was 6 cubits long using the long measurement, so the man measured the thickness of the wall. It was one ruler thick. He measured the height of the wall. It was one ruler tall.

Then the man went to the east gate. He walked up its steps and measured the opening for the gate. It was one ruler wide.

There were two tables on each side of the door of this porch. The animals for the burnt offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings were killed on these tables.

So there were four tables on the inside wall and four tables on the outside wall—eight tables that the priests used when they killed the animals for sacrifices.

There were also four tables made from cut stone for the burnt offerings. These tables were 1 1/2 cubits long, 1 1/2 cubits wide, and 1 cubit high. On these tables, the priests put their tools that they used to kill the animals for the burnt offerings and other sacrifices.

The man said to me, "The room that looks to the south is for the priests who are on duty and serving in the Temple area.

But the room that looks to the north is for the priests who are on duty and serving at the altar. The priests are from the tribe of Levi. But the priests in this second group are the descendants of Zadok. They are the only people who can carry the sacrifices to the altar to serve the Lord ."

The porch was 20 cubits wide and 12 cubits long. Ten steps went up to the porch. There were two columns for the walls on either side of the porch—one at each wall.

I also saw that the Temple had a raised base all the way around it. It was the foundation for the side rooms, and it was a full ruler high.

There was a wall outside that was parallel to the rooms and ran along the outer courtyard. It ran in front of the rooms for 50 cubits.

The man said to me, "The north rooms and south rooms across from the restricted area are holy. These rooms are for the priests who offer the sacrifices to the Lord . That is where the priests will put the most holy offerings and eat them. That is because that place is holy. The most holy offerings are the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings.

"Now, son of man, tell the family of Israel about the Temple. Then, when they learn about the plans for the Temple, they will be ashamed of their sins.

And they will be ashamed of all the bad things they have done. Let them know the design of the Temple. Let them know how it should be built, where the entrances and exits are, and all the designs on it. Teach them about all its rules and all its laws. Write these things for everyone to see so that they can obey all the laws and rules for the Temple.

The place for the fire on the altar was 4 cubits high. The four corners were shaped like horns.

The place for the fire on the altar was 12 cubits long by 12 cubits wide. It was perfectly square.

Then the man said to me, "Son of man, this is what the Lord God says: ‘These are the rules for the altar: At the time you build the altar, use these rules to offer burnt offerings and to sprinkle blood on it.

Then take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the proper place in the Temple area, outside the Temple building.